The region these two races were destined to dominate was, and is, a splendid one. It had an infinite variety of resource and tropical production and temperate growth. Within the million and a half square miles of South African territory were room and verge for a vastly greater white population than has yet touched its shores; while every racial peculiarity or pursuit could find a place in its towns and farms and mines and upon its rolling veldt. To the lover of quiet village life and retirement nothing could be more pleasant than parts of Natal and Cape Colony, and of the two Republics. To the keen business man, eager for gain and intent upon quick returns, the rapid and wealth-producing progress of the great mining towns gave all that could be desired. To the adventurous spirit, willing to suffer hardships and endure labor in its severest form for a possibly glittering return, the diamond and gold fields offered untold opportunities. To the hunter and tourist and traveller the myriad wild animals of the interior gave a pleasure only second to that felt by the Kaffir and the Boer when hunting the lion to his lair or the elephant in its native jungle. To the man fond of country life the vast plains, stretching in varied degrees of value and elevation from Cape Town to the Zambesi, afforded room for pastoral occupation and the raising of cattle and sheep upon a veritable thousand hills. To the seeker after new industries, ostrich farming, mohair, the feather industry and diamond mining have from time to time proved the greatest attraction. To the farmer or planter parts of the region were eminently fitted for the raising of wheat and other cereals, and the cultivation of tobacco, cotton, sugar and rice. To the restless and wandering Boer, South Africa seems to have given for a time everything that his spirit desired--isolation, land, wild animals to hunt, independence of control, freedom from the trammels of education and taxation and civilization. To the quieter Dutchman of Cape Colony has been given every element of British liberty and privilege of British equality; as well as land in plenty, and for thirty years, at least, the pledge of internal peace. [Sidenote: Statistics and Finances of South Africa]