Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/557

 SOUTH AFRICA (BRITISH) 2l3

way system from Kimberley to Vryburg, a distance of 126 miles, and this section has been taken over by the Cape Government. The line has been continued northwards by the Bechuanaland Railway Company and the section com- pleting the extension to Bulawayo is open for traffic. It is proposed to extend the railway from Bulawayo to the Zambezi, and eventually to Tan- ganyika. The lieira Railway Company was formed to construct the railway between Beira and Mashonaland, and it was completed to New Umtali early in 1898. Thence the Mashonaland Railway Company is carrying the line to Salisbury, which will be reached, it is expected, in the spring of 1899. The Company has extended the telegraph system from Mafeking to Salisbury in Mashonaland, over 800 miles from Palapye to Bulawayo and Salisbury, and from Salisbury vid Umtali to Chimoio. On September 30, 1898, the Rhodesia and African Transcontinental Telegraph Co.'s systems consisted of 2,635§ miles of line and 3,613 miles of wire. The telephone is in operation, and telephonic comnmnicatiou has been completed between Gwelo, Ingwenia, Queque, Sebakwe ; Figtree, Inugo ; Bulawayo, Fort Usher ; Fort Usher, Umchabez ; Bulawayo, Mansinyama, Geelong ; Umlugulu, Filabun, Belingwe. The extension of the African Transcontinental Telegraph Com- pany's system from Salisbury to Zoniba, in Nyasaland, and thence to Uganda, is in progress. The line is now completed to, and a telegraph station opened at, Karonga, on the western side of Lake Nyasa, and will ultimately be con- nected with the telegraph from Cairo to Khartum.

In Rhodesia distinct gold-fields have been discovered, their united area being estimated at 5,250 square miles. Other minerals have been dis- covered, silver, copper, blende, tin, antimony, arsenic, lead, and coal.

There are townships at Salisbury (the capital of Rhodesia), Victoria, Umtali, Bulawayo, Gwelo, Enkeldoorn, and Melsetter, and the demand for building sites is increasing. In Mashonaland by March, 1895, about 5,000 square miles had been surveyed : and in Matabeleland 1,070 farms, aggre- gating 6,400,000 acres, had been pegged out and registered.

At Salisbury, Bulawayo, and Umtali, there are Government offices, banks, chui'ches, hotels, schools, public libraries, and hospitals ; there is also an hospital at Gwelo. Sanitary boards have been established, and good government throughout the country provided for. Several newspapers are published at Salisbury and Bulawayo. By the new postal route vid Bulawayo, London and Salisbury are brought within 24 days of each other.

The capital of the Company was originally 1,000,000^. ; in 1893 it was increased to 2,000,000Z. ; in 1895, to 2,500,000?. ; in 1896, to 3,500,000Z. ; and on April 21, 1898, it w-as authorised to be increased to 5,000,000/. The amount of capital issued is 4,375,000Z. ; debentures, 1,250,000Z. Revenue now accrues from mining, trading, and professional licenses, stand holdings, and postal and telegra])h services.

Administrator of Ma^hoiudand and Senior Adminidrator of Southern Rhodesia. — W. H. Milton.

Administrator of Matabeleland. — Captain the Hon. A. Lawley.

References.

Reports of the Select Committee on the Incursion into the Soiitli African Republic, <fec., with Evidence. London, 1897. — Rejiort of Select Committee of the Cape of Good Hope House of Assembly on the Jameson Raid. London, 18l»7. — Cliarter of the British South Africa Company, October 29, 1889, with Orders in Council of 1S91 and 1894. London, 1898. —Order in Council published in the Gazette of November 25, 1898.

Annual Reports of the British South Africa Company. — Report on the Native Disturb- ances in Rhodesia, 1896-97. London, 1898.

Papers respecting the Treaty between Great Britain and Portugal, signed June 11, 1891. [Manica Arbitration.] London, 1897.

Alderson {^E, A. H.), With the Mounted Infantry in Mashonaland, London, 1898.

Bent (J. Th.), The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland. 8. London, 1893.