On the 20th September, 1886, the Witwatersrand district was declared a public goldfield, and from that date the history of Johannesburg begins. For some months the town was known as Ferreira's Camp, and the Natal Camp, and it was not till, perhaps, March last that the present town of Johannesburg became recognized as the central point of the goldfields of the district. From that date the growth of the town has been almost unprecedented.... Large hotels exist which equal in accommodation anything in South Africa. Warehouses are full of all that can be obtained even at Cape Town. A theatre--rough, it is true, but of considerable capacity--is in full working order. Four banks are at work. Three newspapers are published every other day.... The actual number of the population I can hardly estimate, opinions differing so greatly. In the town of Johannesburg itself I am disposed to think there are about 4,000 people. The outlying districts also contain a very large population, probably nearly equalling that of the town. The reefs which constitute the wealth of the Witwatersrand are entirely different from any development which has yet been worked.... The principal reef, which has now been traced to a distance of between twenty-five and thirty miles, is called the "main reef." It may be taken to have an average breadth of from 3 feet 6 inches to 15 feet. It has in several places been tested to a depth of 70 feet, in every case being proved to be better and richer at the lower levels than at the surface. An inspection of the properties and inquiry into the cost of production cannot fail to impress one with the fact that, if these reefs are found to have sufficient depth, one of the richest goldfields in the world has now come to light. BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE There is only one Footnote in this book, marked [A] on page 29. It has been placed at the end of the short section containing the anchor. Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, sea-coast, sea coast; to-night; employés; overboil; mendicity. Pg 13, 'slighest evidence' replaced by 'slightest evidence'. Pg 68, 'the British Goverment' replaced by 'the British Government'. End of Project Gutenberg's Imperialism and Mr. Gladstone, by Various