NATAL.

Constitution and Government.

THE Colony of Natal, formerly an integral part of the Cape of Good Hope settlement, was erected in 1856 into a separate colony under the British crown, represented first by a Lieutenant-Governor, and since 1879 by a Governor. Under the charter of constitution granted in 1856, and modified in 1875 and 1879, the Governor is assisted in the administration of the colony by an Executive and a Legislative Council. The Executive Council is composed of the Chief Justice, the senior officer in command of the troops, the Colonial Secretary, the Treasurer, the Attorney-General, the Secretary for Native Affairs, and two members nominated by the Governor from among the Deputies elected to the Legislative Council. The Legislative Council, under an Act which received the Royal Assent in 1883, consists of thirty members, seven of whom are nominated by the Crown, and the others elected by the counties and boroughs, electors being qualified by the possession of property of the value of 501., or rents from property of the annual value of 10%. Governor of Natal.-Sir Henry Ernest Bulwer, K.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Governor of Natal from 1875 to 1880. Appointed Governor of Natal, January 1882.

The Governor has a salary of 2,500l. per annum.

There is a body of mounted police numbering 230, and of volunteers 430.

There are Government high schools in Pietermaritzburg and Durban; there are also several Government primary schools, and a large number of denominational aided schools, under Government inspection, besides twelve Indian schools.

Revenue and Population.

The public revenue and expenditure of the colony in the five years from 1879 to 1883 were as follows:

In the budget for 1884 the revenue is estimated at 820,1647., and expenditure 852,6981. Among the items of revenue are customs, 190,000l., native hut tax, 68,0977., land sales, 27,000l., excise, 20,0001. Under the head of expenditure are debt, 81,7691., public works, 52,6611., post office, 43,0547., defence, 58,9927., immigrants, 23,1887., education, 22,1607.

The public debt consists of six loans, mostly at 4, 4, and 5 per cent. The total debt of the colony was 2,554,000l. at the end of 1883.

The colony has an estimated area of about 21,150 English square miles, with a seaboard of 200 miles. But the extent of some of the districts is all but unknown; there are fourteen districts.

The population in 1881 was 416,219, comprising 28,463 whites, 329,253 natives, and 20,196 coolies. In 1883 the total population was 418,731. In 1880 the number of immigrants sent out from England was 889; in 1881, 942; in 1882, 1,484; and in 1883, 595. The principal towns are Durban, 16,630 inhabitants in 1884; and Pietermaritzburg, 14,231.

Trade and Commerce.

The

The commerce of Natal is largely with Great Britain. total imports in 1883 were valued at 1,751,1077., and exports 831,7471. The principal imports were apparel and haberdashery, 293,5771.; iron and iron goods, 122,2491.; cottons, 91,7617.; woollens, 62,3761.; flour, 112,4417. Exports-hides, 53,0127.; ostrich feathers, 14,5261.; unrefined sugar, 122,0847. (126,732 cwt.); wool 519,161. The subjoined table gives the value of the trade with Great Britain from 1879 to 1883:

The wool exports to Great Britain amounted in value to 568,1117. in 1878, and to 399,7417. in 1883; hides, 36,8017. in 1883, and raw sugar, 40,6887. in 1881, and 17,9847. in 1883. Many of the exports of the colony, particularly wool, come from the neighbouring Dutch republics, which also absorb more than one-third of the imports.

The chief articles of British import into Natal in 1883 were

apparel and haberdashery, of the value of 197,2791., leather and saddlery 88,3491., and iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 162,1851.

In 1883, 328 vessels of 232,097 tons entered, and 326 vessels, of 231,892 tons, cleared.

There are 105 miles of railway constructed at a cost of 1,200,000!, and a land grant of two-and-a-half million acres, with a further right to certain coal fields, and a subvention of 40,000l. per annum. Another 120 miles is being constructed at a cost of 1,100,000Z., in the direction of the Orange Free State. In the budget for 1885 the railway revenue is estimated at 235,000l., and expenses 289,9647. Considerable coal-fields are known to exist in the north of the

colony.

Of the total area of the colony 2,000,000 acres have been set apart for Kaffir occupation, 8,000,000 acres have been acquired by grant or purchased by Europeans, and 2,000,000 acres remain (1883) unalienated from the Crown. Of the total area in 1880, 80,991 acres were under crops by Europeans, the leading crop for export being sugar, though large quantities of maize, wheat, oats, and other cereal and green crops are grown. Of live stock owned by Europeans in 1882 there were 160,453 horned cattle, 78,848 angora goats, 428,535 sheep, 18,395 horses.

Statistical and other Books of Reference.

Colonial Office List.

1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

1884.

Natal Blue-book for 1883. Pietermaritzburg, 1884.

Peace (Walter), Our Colony of Natal. Published by permission of the Natal Government. London, 1884.

Statistics of Natal; in 'Statistical Abstract for the several Colonial and other Possessions of the United Kingdom in each year from 1869 to 1883.' No. XXI. 8. London, 1884.

Trade of Natal with Great Britain; in Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions in the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Brooks (Henry), Natal: a History and Description of the Colony. 8. London, 1877.

Dunn (E. J.), Notes on the Diamond Fields. 8. Cape Town, 1871.

Elton (Capt.), Special Reports upon the Gold Field at Marabastadt and upon the Transvaal Republic. 8. Durban, 1872.

Fritsch (Dr. Gust.), Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrika's ethnographisch und anatomisch beschrieben. 4. Breslau, 1872.

Gillmore (Parker), The Great Thirst Land. A Ride through Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal, and Kahalari Desert. 8. London. 1878.

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Hall (H.), Manual of South African Geography. 8. Capetown, 1866.
Payton (Ch. A.), The Diamond Diggings of South Africa. 8. London, 1872.
Natal Almanack, Directory, and Yearly Register. Pietermaritzburg, 1884.
Robinson (John), Notes on Natal. 8. Durban, 1872.

Silver (S. W.), Handbook to South Africa, including the Cape Colony, Natal, the Diamond Fields, &c. 8. London, 1876.

Silver (S. W.), Handbook to the Transvaal. 8. London, 1880.
Statham (F. R.), Blacks, Boers and British. London, 1882.
Trollope (Anthony), South Africa. 2 vols. 9. London, 1878.

ORANGE FREE STATE.

(ORANJE-VRIJSTAAT.)

Constitution and Government.

THE Republic, known as the Orange Free State, founded originally by Boers, who quitted Cape Colony in 1836 and following years, is separated from the Cape Colony by the Orange River, has British Basutoland and Natal on the east, the Transvaal on the north, and Transvaal and Griqualand West on the west. Its independence was declared on February 23, 1854, and a Constitution was proclaimed April 10, 1854, and revised February 9, 1866, and May 8, 1879. The legislative authority is vested in a popular Assembly, the Volksraad, of 55 members in 1883, elected by universal suffrage of the burghers (adult white males) for four years from every district, town and ward, or field-cornetcy in the country districts. Every two years one-half of the members vacate their seats, and an election takes place. The members of the Volksraad receive pay at the rate of 21. per day. The executive is vested in a President chosen for five years by universal suffrage, who is assisted by an Executive Council appointed by the Volksraad. The Executive Council consists of the Government Secretary, the Landrost of the capital, and three unofficial members appointed one every year for three years. There is a Landrost or Governor appointed to each of the districts of the Republic by the President, the appointment requiring the confirmation of the Volksraad. The Roman-Dutch law prevails; there. is a Supreme Court of three judges, and a Circuit Court, which meets twice a year in each district.

President of the Republic.-Honourable Sir John Henry Brand, LL.D., Honorary G.C.M.G., elected December, 1883, for the fifth period of five years.

There is no standing army, except a small body of artillery at Bloemfontein; every able-bodied man is bound to serve in case of necessity. At the census of 1880 there were 13,941 burghers or white males between eighteen and sixty years.

The prevailing religious denomination is that of the Dutch Reformed Church; in 1880, 51,716, of the population belonged to it; the Church of England is represented by a bishop and a complete ecclesiastical and educational organisation. Several other bodies have mission stations and churches. There is a high school at the capital, at which English and Dutch are taught, and throughout the Republic there are district and parish schools and itinerant teachers.