The last frontier : $b The white man's war for civilisation in AfricaPowell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
History
The last frontier : $b The white man's war for civilisation in Africa
Powell, E. Alexander (Edward Alexander)
Africa; Africa -- Colonization
The imperial government deserves the greatest credit, however, for
the steps it has taken to preserve his lands to the native. In the
native protectorates and reservations of Basutoland, Swaziland,
Bechuanaland, Griqualand, Tembuland, and Pondoland the government has
reserved for the exclusive use and benefit of the natives territories
considerably larger than the combined area of our three Pacific-coast
States. Though these territories are under the control of British
resident commissioners, the native chiefs are allowed to exercise
jurisdiction according to tribal laws and customs in all civil matters
between natives, special courts having been established to deal with
serious civil or criminal matters in which Europeans are concerned.
Though certain small areas of land in these rich territories are held
by whites, the bulk of the country is reserved for the exclusive use
and benefit of the natives, and it is not at all likely that any more
land will be alienated for purposes of settlement by Europeans. (Could
anything be in more striking contrast to our disgraceful treatment of
the Indian?) Though South Africa has much in common with Canada, and
with Australia, and with our own Southwest, it is, when all is said
and done, a black man's country ruled by the white man, and it is upon
the justice, liberality, and intelligence of this rule that the peace
and prosperity of the young nation must eventually depend.
Two great obstacles will always stand in the way of the white man
having an easy row to hoe in South Africa: the climate and the lack
of water. Though the climate of the uplands is pleasant and makes
men want to lead an outdoor life, I am not at all certain that it
tends to develop or maintain the keenness and energy characteristic
of dwellers in the north temperate zone. The climate of the coastal
regions is, moreover, distinctly bad, the sharply cold nights and the
misty, steaming days producing the coast fever, which is a combination
of rheumatism, influenza, dysentery, and malaria, and is very
debilitating indeed. The white man who intends to make his permanent
home in South Africa has, therefore, two alternatives: he can submit
to the exactions of the climate, take life easily, leave the black
bottle severely alone, and live a long but unprogressive life, or he
can exhaust his energies and undermine his health in fighting the
climate and die of old age at sixty. If the climate is not all that
is desirable for men, it is infinitely worse for animals, for every
disease known to the veterinarian abounds. Time and again the herds
of the country have been almost exterminated by the hoof-and-mouth
disease, or by the rinderpest, a highly contagious cattle distemper
which is probably identical with that “murrain” with which Moses
smote the herds of ancient Egypt and which helped to bring Pharaoh
to terms. In the low-lying regions along the East Coast, and in the
country north of the Limpopo it is necessary to keep horses shut up
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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