Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/181

 PORT ALFRED.— FORT BEAUFORT. 185 till the epoch of the ^rcat KngliHh immif^ition in 1H20, when it became the chief wntre of the operations in the KuHr wur«, often nerving an a place of refuge for the colonists settled on the eastern fnintior. Now it is no longer threatened by hostile natives, its barracks have been abandonetl by the military and adapted to the purposes of the civil administration, and the Kafirs of the neighbouHuxKl hnve be<'ome peaceful lulxmrers or industrious artisims. The white population of the town and surrounding district, of whom the great majority are of British descent, were formerly occupied chiefly with sheep-fanning IJut the region known as the Zuur-veld only produces a sour grass which is badly suited for sheep, and these have consequently in many districts been replaced bv ostriches. Here ostrich - farming and the preparation of the feathers for the European market have 8uccee<led better than in any other place where this industry has been establishe<l. Hitherto dependent on Port Elizabeth for its foreign trade, Graham's Town has recently endeavoured to secure an outlet for itiself. At the mouth of the little river Kowie, the nearest point on the coast, extensive works have been undertaken to get rid of the bar and establish convenient landing-stages and depots. Vessels drawing from 8 to 9 feet of water can already enter the estuary and discharge their cargoes at the quays of Purt Alfred, the new harbour, which is connected with Graham's Town by a railway running through the agricultural town of Jiat/mrxf. The neighbouring beach is much fretjuented in summer as a favourite watering-place. The promontory visible to the west, and bounding the east side of Algoa Bay, bears the name of Point Padrone, doubtless because here the Portuguese formerly raised a padrao, or memorial stone, as on so many other headlands along this seaboard. Near Cape Padrone lies the modem village of Altxandn'a. The basin of the Great Fish River, which winds to the east of the Graham's Town heights, has its farther sources on the southern slope of the main northern range, near the southernmost point reached by the Orange River, and is divided into several electoral districts. Middlehurg, on an upper affluent of the river, lies already on the incline by which the Port- Elizabeth railway creeps up the escarp- ment in order to cross the range into the Orange basin through the Bosworth Pass, which stands at a height of 5,200 feet, greater than that of many an Alpine railway. Cradock, on the main stream itself, and Tmha-stad, on one of it« tributaries, are important centres of the colonial wool trade. In the neighbouring distiict still survive in the wild state a few groups of quiggas, which are now protected by the game laws. Somerxet and licdjord are also agricultural centres, while Fort lieanfort has preserved something of its original military aspect. As an advanced outpost towards the Kafir country, it bravely withstood the repeated assaults of the hostile natives in IHOl. The district which stretches northwards along th.' southern slope of the Elandsberg and now called Stotkenstrom, was formerly known as the Kat River Colony, which Ix'fore the war of IHol had been exclusively reserved for the Hottentots. But the land being fertile and well watered by the Kat River, the whites soon found the usual pretexts for occupying it, and the