SOUTH AFRICA-A HOME FOR RETIRED E. I. CO.'S SERVANTS. 293

ART. II.-1. De Villiers' Almanac for 1854.

2. Advertiser and Mail Newspaper.

3. Port Elizabeth Telegraph.

Now that the E. I. Company's New Furlough Regulations permit their servants, when sick, to visit England on terms nearly as favourable as the old rules allowed of their proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope and the other eastern colonies, few, probably, will resort there, on sick certificate, as in days past. But there are in India many, who, grateful for benefits received, in health restored and energies recruited, look back, with pleasure and interest, on their days of leave spent at the Cape. Others, about to retire from the service, have thought of South Africa as a country to settle in comfortably, and wherein to rear and start their children fairly. We propose, therefore, to briefly describe the present state of the Cape Colony; and to enumerate some of its advantages as a field for retired Indian Officers, with families, having a pension and a small sum of money as available capital, to immigrate to and settle in.

Few men on retiring from India can afford to settle in England; for how far will a Major's pension and £3,000 go there, in providing for a wife and half a dozen children? Now at the Cape, an income and capital of that amount will render a man comfortable and independent, and will enable him to start his sons respectably, and to marry his daughters happily. And when the Cape's central position on the globe, its comparative age as a European settlement, and the peculiar constitution of its general society, are borne in mind, many men will, we think, be inclined to prefer it as a home, to most of the new, more bustling and convict-populated Australian Colonies.

The Honorable Company's Officers enjoy, with those of the Queen's army, the privilege of the remission of a part of the price of land, when settling for good at the Cape.

The British possessions in Southern Africa extend over an area nearly as large as that of France. They lie between the 30th and 35th degrees of South Latitude, and the 17th and 28th of East Longitude. Their only exposed frontier is on the north, where the boundary stretches across the Continent from east to west, and measures some 700 miles. Tribes of Namaquaas and Bosjemans are located along its western end and centre; and "the Fransvat Republic" of Dutch farmers, "the Sovereignty" (recently abandoned by the British Government,

and left an independent community), and tribes_of Caffres, own the territory bordering on its eastern end. Everywhere else, it is bounded on all sides by the sea: the sweep of the coast being some 1,200 miles in length.

Within this extensive area, there are large tracts of arid territory, and ranges of bare hills not susceptible of cultivation or improvement; but there are also many extensive districts and fine valleys possessing a rich soil, and productive of everything requisite for man's necessity and comfort, and which might be made to yield and produce three times as much as they now do.

Labour is the great, and nearly the only, want of the Colony; a full and judiciously timed supply of Scotch, English and German labourers would do very much in developing the vast resources of the country, when set to till its lands, work its ores, prune its vines, and fell its forest trees.

At present the whole population does not exceed 300,000 souls, inclusive of the Caffre, Fingoe, Hottentot and other semi-savage subjects about 75,000 of these are Europeans; and 40,000 of the whole number reside in and near the capital, Cape Town.

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The Cape now may very fairly be considered the centre of the civilized world, for it is nearly equally close to all the countries around it. Only twenty-five days steaming from London and from Melbourne; very near India; not far from America; quite close to Rio and Mauritius. So placed geographically, as to be the most convenient half-way house and halting place for the many thousand ships and steamers now traversing the ocean in all directions.

In Cape Town, men from all nations are met with, and accounts from all countries are received.

There are no harbour-dues payable in any of the sea-ports of the Colony, and the number of ships yearly resorting to Table Bay, for repairs, supplies and water, is very large.

The harbours on the coasts, proceeding from west to east, are St. Helena and Saldanah Bays, the latter well supplied with water; Table Bay, the harbour of Cape Town; Houts, and the large False Bay, with its many inlets; St. Sebastian's, or St. Beaufort on the "Swellendam" coast; Mossel and Plettenberg Bays on the Coast of "George" county; "St. Francis" and Algoa on that of Uitenhage; Port Francis on that of Albany; and the mouth of the Buffalo river on the sea coast of British Kaffraria; besides the mouths of some of the larger rivers, most of which, however, are troubled with "baes."

The climate of the Cape has always been considered, and has by the Army Returns been proved, to be highly salubrious,

second only to that of New Zealand: cholera has never been known in South Africa; fevers, liver disease and dysentery are hardly ever heard of. It is rarely too hot, never too cold, hardly ever too wet at the Cape. In December and January (summer), the thermometer does sometimes rise to 100° Fahrenheit. In April (mid-autumn), the maximum, outside, is 77°, and the medium 63°,

In June

About twenty-four inches of rain fall in the whole year; but never more than five inches during any one month. and July the weather is agreeably cold.

The prevailing wind, in and near Cape Town, is south-east, which often blows violently; its dust is disagreeable, but it in no way hurts any body. The town's people, from its supposed sanitary influence, style it "The Doctor!" During the winter, the north-west gales roll a prodigiously heavy sea into Table Bay, and the wrecks on the coast then have been far too common. Still these catastrophes are often due to carelessness, and to the inefficient way in which many ships are found in anchors, cables, and gear. The wrecks on the Cape coast are, after all, hardly so numerous as those on the shores of England itself.

The Colony enjoys a free constitution and an elected Parliament. It is presided over by a Viceroy or Governor, appointed quinquennially from England, and is managed by two Houses, both elective.

The Upper Chamber consists of fifteen Members; and the Lower of about forty. The Chief Justice of the Colony, rather anomalously, presides in the Upper House; the Lower elects its own speaker. The Members of the Upper House must be thirty years of age, and possess £2,000 of property: those of the Lower, need only be qualified as Electors, the franchise being a low one.

Each of the counties or divisions returns two Members to the Lower House, the Capital four, and the other larger towns additional Members. All bills of supply originate with the Lower House. The Viceroy has a veto on all ordinances.

A few of the senior Officers of the Government attend and sit in both Houses, to answer questions and afford information ; but they are not entitled to vote, we believe. On the American principle too, no servant of the State, paid or unpaid, can sit in either House. The Law Officers assist the Houses in the preparation of their bills and acts.

Good hard roads, with bridges, cause-ways and viaducts, extend in many directions over the country. The great lines over the Bain's and Cradock's Kloofs, and across the Zureberg

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range, are stupendous works, on which great labor, science and skill have been bestowed, and which have opened out large fertile districts, affording easy conveyance for their produce. Railways and docks are now also in contemplation, and will, in all probability, be at once commenced upon.

A uniform four-penny rate of letter postage, and one of a penny on all newspapers, prevail: stamps are used: money orders are granted for small sums, through the different Post Offices the frontier mails, leaving the main office on alternate evenings, are delivered on the third day, at places six and seven hundred miles off.

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The Capital and the larger towns have Municipal Corporations, to look to and care for their local conveniences and interests.

There are in the Colony fourteen Joint Stock Banks, many Life and Fire Assurance, and other Joint Stock Associations and Companies, the money capital of which, amounting to a large sum, is owned, nearly exclusively, by Colonial men. There are too, in many of the towns, several mercantile firms, whose trade operations, with all parts of the world, are conducted upon a very large scale, and return considerable profits.

The public revenue amounts to £300,000. The expenditure to about £290,000.

The sea customs dues produce £160,000. The land revenue £18,000. The postal £14,000. The transfer and auction dues £50,000. The stamps £20,000. And fines, licenses and fees of office complete the amount.

The currency is one of English money, and the notes of the Local Banks.

The imports exceed a million and a half sterling. The exports amount to £800,000. The value of the wool from one sea-port alone, being £300,000.

A higher price is procured in Mark-lane for Cape wheat, than for any grain grown anywhere else. Cape wool ranks now with the finest Australian.

The wines, in great varieties, white and red, light and full bodied, are improving in quality, and retrieving their character. Fruits of all sorts and kinds, both European and tropical, are produced in great abundance, and of the finest quality: they are, when dried, largely exported to other countries.

Bread, meat, and vegetables of the best descriptions are cheaply procurable.

Food and all the necessaries of life are cheap and abundant, and many of the comforts and luxuries are easily obtained. Money embarked in trade, Joint Stock Associations, cattle,

grain and wool-farming operations, returns 8,10,12 and more per cent., and the fields for its satisfactory investment are daily widening and increasing.

The offices in the public service will henceforward be in a great degree thrown open to Colonial men. Clerks on entering now pass examinations as to their fitness and capacity; and others on being promoted to the higher grades.

The press of the Colony is respectably and ably conducted. It issues, weekly, no less than twenty journals; besides religious, literary and other periodicals,

The ranks of the learned professions are very ably filled; and there are now in South Africa many devout priests, scientific skilful physicians, and astute lawyers.

The clergy of the English Episcopalian, and of the Dutch Calvinistic churches, and a few Roman Catholic priests as well, receive annual stipends from the State.

The South African College has professorships in classics, mathematics, physics and modern languages: and the New Parliament is about still further to enlarge its sphere of usefulness. This college has sent, and is still sending into the world, many highly educated young men.

A general system of public education, designed by Sir John Herschell, obtains. In each county there is a Government school, conducted by a qualified master, and inspected periodically by the Superintendant General of Education: pecuniary aid is besides granted to mission and other schools, on certain conditions, and when urgently required.

Much is done for the cultivation of literature, science and art. The South African Public Library contains on its shelves more than 30,000 volumes, in all branches of learning, and the vast treasures of this famous institution are gratuitously offered to all readers.

At intervals, exhibitions of paintings, and floral and agricultural shows are held in Cape Town, where there is a public botanic garden.

The Colonial Civil Law is based on the Roman-Dutch: marriages take place under it, "in community of property," and the children born of such unions, inherit and share equally their parents' whole substance. The rights of primogeniture are neither recognized nor known in South Africa. estates of all orphans pass, by law, under the guardianship of the master of the Supreme Court, who officially holds the moneys, and directs the education and nurture, of all minors.

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Pauperism is unknown in the streets. Lepers, lunatics, and