Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 4.djvu/253

 SWAZILAND. 195 The Amaswazi people, who are estimutcHl nt ubout eighty thousand soulc, take their name from a local chief, who aeqiiiriKl the political ascendancy in the year ltS4;j. They had previously heen known as the Ba-Kapu/a people, from another chief renowned for his warlike exploits at an earlier periiKl. The distinguishing murk of all the Swazi tribes is an incision in the cartilage of the ear. Their present ruler has become one of ihe wealthiest ]M»rson8 in South Africa since the formation of numerous companies to work the gold-mines in his territory. His share in each speculation has been tixed at an annual sum of not less than £'J00. At present there is scarcely any resident European population in any part of Zululand. The whites are even provisionally forbidden to acquire land or establish pl&ntations in this region, where the oidy settlers are tho missionaries, a few grazers and gold-hunters, Wsides two or throe dealers in the neighbourhood of the coast. Nor are there any European buildings, beyond some military posts at the strategical jM>int8, and a small numbiT of schools and chapels, centres of civiliza- tion round which will doubtless one day spring up regular towns and villages. The natural centre of the country is the district about the confluence of the two Um-Volosi rivers. Here was formerly situated Uiiodirenr/n, the royal kraal, or capital of the Zulu kingdom. This place was succeeded by Ulundi, a town of over a thousand huts disposed in the form of a fortified circular enclosure some miles in circumference, within which the herds were safely i)enned. I'lundi was destroyed in its turn, and nothing now marks the site of this historic jdace except an obscure hamlet. All the other centres of population in Zululand, as well as in Swaziland, are also constructed on the model of a large cattle pen. Although these regions cannot be said to be yet completely pacifie^l, there can be no doubt that both Natal and Zululand are henceforth safe from the danger of any sudden organised rising on the part of the natives. The Zulu military system founded by Chaka was utterly destroyed by the overthrow and removal of Cety- wayo from the scene, while the Zulu nation itself was, so to say, resolved into its original tribal fragments. The chief obstacle to a systematic colonisation of the country having thus disapj)eared, one may well feel astonished that, from the immense stream of Britisli migration, such a small current is annually deflected towards the still sparsely peopled lands of Austral Africa, which are, nevertheless, spacious and fertile enough to afford support to many millions of human beings. Doubtless this phenomenon must to a great extent be attribut^d to the national instinct of the emigrants themselves. When they quit their English homes they naturally desire to settle in another England, resembling their native land as closely as possible in its language, social usages, and ethnical if not ix>litieal cohesion. Hence the preference they show for the United States, Australia, New Zealand over Austral Africa, where they would be thrown into contact with Dutch lioers, Hottentots, Kafirs, black and yellow peoples of every race. Although political rulers of the land, they feel dissatisfied at forming such a small minority of the entire {wpulation.