But there are "fonteins" in many places, and there is no reason why a fair sprinkling of girls' and boys' institutions should not be comfortably located both in Transvaal and "Orange," where along the river of that name there is a more certain supply of water. The Vaal is of course the largest stream for irrigation in the north. Very little has been done to husband the water of any of the African rivers; and the chief work to be done in matters of material improvement is the adequate damming and storing of the waters of all the principal streams. The winter floods, copious and overwhelming, have been allowed to run to waste. Water and wives must for a long time be the chief wants of South Africa. Lucas gives briefly the main features of the country now under our flag. From the south coast to the Zambesi in the neighbourhood of the Victoria Falls is 1200 miles. The land rises steadily from the sea as you get into the Hinterlands, and the mountain ranges run parallel to the sea. Behind these ranges there is everywhere an elevated plateau, and the highest plains are in the east. There also the rainfall is the greatest. "It is from the south or east that men come into Southern Africa, not from the west, where stretch the dreary deserts of Damara and Namaqua Land." North of the Karoo Desert the principal places are well situated for altitude. To the west Kimberley is 4000 feet above the sea. Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange State, is higher by 500 feet than is Kimberley. Mafeking has 4200 feet. Pretoria, the capital of the Transvaal, is the same as Bloemfontein. Johannesburg, though so near Pretoria, stands at 5600 feet. In the north, Matebele Land has an average of 2500 feet. It is possible that deep borings may find water in the new states where there is none at present. These heights are sufficient to explain how it is that even far to the north of Cape Colony European settlement may thrive, and children grow up strong and healthy. But "location" is everything.