Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/190

 144 SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA. with heads bent by the heavy yoke, but muzzle free of crub or reins. The driver urged them with his voice, aided by an occasional touch of his formidable whip, generally several yards long. A youth nearly always ran in front of the first pair, guiding them to the right or left, and at the passage of rivers even swimming before them, encouraging them in every way and preventing them from stoppiny; in mid-stream and thus exposing the whole span to being swept away by the swift current. To surmount the steep inclines the ordinary teams were often insufficient, although the waggon-load might not exceed one ton. On such occasions the number of draft animals had to be perhaps doubled under the leading waggon, ten or even twelve pairs being yoked to get it over the difficult pass, and then brought back to pick up the rest of the convoy awaiting their turn along the line of march. At times the vehicles had even to be unloaded, taken to pieces, and transported with the whole freight piecemeal over the rocky heights. Frequently the animals broke down altogether through sheer exhaustion, and then the caravan had to out- span in the wilderness while messengers were sent to bring up fresh teams. Yet in spite of all the dangers and hardships of such journeys, they were always remembered with a feeling akin to delight, and cheerfully resumed at the shortest notice. In the evenings the waggons were disposed in a circle round the camp, great fires were kindled to scare away the rapacious beasts, whose eyes were at times seen glaring in the bush, and music and the dance were kept up till late at night to indemnify the trekkers for the toil and perils of the day. At present such tedious journeys are no longer made in Cape Colony, where vehicles of the old waggon type are used chiefly for the transport of goods in the more remote districts. A network of great carriage roads intersects the territory in. all directions, surmounting the loftiest ranges by well-graded inclines. Sections of road-work, such as those of Montague Pass and Southey's Pass, in the south- western division, and of the Catberg, between the Orange River and Graham's Town, are the glory of Cape Colony, and are shown to strangers with a pardonable feeling of pride. The lines of railway starting from the coast at Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Port Alfred, and East London, penetrate far into the interior, surmounting the successive mountain barriers at altitudes of several hundred, and even some thousand feet, in order to reach the Orange basin. With the exception of a few secondary lines, the whole colonial railway system belongs to the local Government, as do also the telegraph lines. The receipts derived from these works of public utility constitute no inconsiderable part of the public revenue. Administration. — Public Instruction. Throughout the first half of the present century Cape Colony was simply a dependency of the Crown. The governors exercised their functions in the name of the sovereign, at first alone, and later with the aid of an executive council and a legislative council, nominated directly by the British Government. The colonial