Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/205

 connected with Cape Town by a railway 620 miles long, and as the chief centre of trade between the colony and the Dutch republics of the Orange and Transvaal, it is steadily recovering from the losses caused by the depreciated value of its diamonds. Thanks to the water brought at great cost from the Vaal to the formerly arid plateau, the streets and squares of Kimberley have been planted with shady trees, and vast heaps of refuse have been transformed to pleasant gardens. Its original tin houses, brought piecemeal from England, have already been for the most part replaced by more substantial structures; its thoroughfares are illumined with electric light, and like its neighbour, Beaconsfield, which has sprung up near the Du Toit's Pan mine, Kimberley already surpasses many old

European towns in mechanical appliances, industrial resources, well-stocked warehouses, and handsome buildings. The population, mostly of a fluctuating character, rose from thirteen thousand in 1875 to nearly double that number in 1886.

West of the Vaal the largest place is Grigua Town, which may be said to give its name to the province. It was itself named from the Griquas, by whom it was founded in the year 1802, at the time of the great exodus of the Dutch and Hottentot half-castes. Formerly capital of the province, it has now sunk to the rank of chief town of Upper Hay, one of the four districts or electoral and administrative divisions of Griqualand West.