The south-eastern branch of the Central South African Railways connects with the Natal line at Volksrust, and proceeds along the high veldt viâ Standerton and Heidelberg to the Rand. The high veldt of the Transvaal has an average height of 5000 feet above sea-level. It is a vast open grass country with rocky ridges rising a few hundred feet above the ordinary level. A magnificent stock country, and rich in coal, iron, and gold. On the eastern line, the Central South African line connects with the Portuguese line at Komati Poort, and passes up the Elands River Valley already described. From Waterval Boven the railway continues to ascend to the summit of the high veldt at Bergendal, near Belfast. It was here where the last big pitched battle was fought before the break-up of the Boer army into guerilla forces. The line passes along the northern limits of the high veldt _viâ_ Middelburg to Pretoria. The country it passes through is equal in stock-raising capabilities and mineral riches to the south-eastern line. There are enormous areas of coal of good quality and abundance of iron ore, and limestone sufficient for the establishment of a great industry which itself will doubtless bring about and maintain great railway expansion in the future. From Pretoria, the Pretoria-Pietersburg line, formerly a private company, now taken over by the Central South African Railways, strikes north to Pietersburg into the heart of the tropical part of the Transvaal. The country it traverses is partly flat and partly hilly, at some places thick bush and at others wide grassy plains. In the northern district there is a large population of Kaffirs who cultivate the extremely fertile soil, and produce great quantities of mealies (maize) and Kaffir corn, which products, together with timber for the mines, form the principal items of traffic carried by the railway. The Beira railway to Salisbury, originally a narrow gauge, has now been widened to the standard 3 feet 6 inches gauge of South Africa, and carries all the traffic for the Mashonaland mines. [Illustration: JOHANNESBURG MAIL TRAIN AT THE FOOT OF MAJUBA]