The Orange Free State, in its entire area of 48,000 square miles, is on the great interior plateau at an altitude of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level. The surface is mostly level, but there are occasional hills—some of them rising to a height of 6,000 feet. The land is, for the most part, bare of trees, but affords good grazing for two-thirds of the year. The air is remarkably pure and bracing. There are no blizzards to encounter. There are, however, occasional violent thunderstorms, which precipitate enormous hailstones—large enough to kill the smaller animals, and even men. Notwithstanding the generally parched appearance of the country, the larger streams do not dry up in winter. The southeastern part of the Free State, particularly the valley of the Caledon River, is one of the best corn-growing regions in Africa. In the main, however, with the exception of the river valleys, the land is more suitable for pasture than for tillage. The grazing farms are large and require the services of but few men; as a consequence the population increases slowly. The Free State, corresponding in size to the State of New York, has only about 80,000 white inhabitants and 130,000 natives. The chief industry is agriculture and stock-raising. A railway, constructed by the Cape Colony government, connects Bloemfontein, the capital of the Orange Free State, with the ports of Cape Colony and Natal, and with Pretoria, the capital of the South African Republic. The South African Republic, commonly called the Transvaal, is 119,139 square miles in area. The white population, numbering 345,397, is largely concentrated in the Witwatersrand mining district. The native inhabitants number 748,759. All the Transvaal territory belongs to the interior plateau, with the exception of a strip of lower land on the eastern and northern borders. This lower section is malarious. It is thought, however, that drainage and cultivation will correct this, as they have done in other fever districts. Like the Free State, the Transvaal is principally a grazing country. The few trees that exist in the more sheltered parts are of little value, except those in the lower valleys. The winters are severely cold, and the burning sun of summer soon dries up the moisture and bakes the soil, causing the grass to be stunted and yellow during most of the year. Until about sixteen years ago there was little in the surface appearance and known resources of the Transvaal to attract settlers, and nothing to make it a desirable possession to any other people than its Africander inhabitants. In 1884 discoveries of gold were made, the first of which that excited the world being some rich auriferous veins on the Sterkfontein farm. In a little time it became known that probably the richest deposit of gold in the world was in the Witwatersrand district of the Transvaal. Later, in 1897, diamonds were discovered in the Transvaal, the first stone