“An objection has been raised to this site, that the Little Bushman’s River, from which the water would be led for the supply of the town, fails in very dry seasons; and another spot has been proposed in its stead, a few miles lower down the river. We are not sufficiently acquainted with this site to be able to report on the eligibility at present.
“It is highly important that bridges, or other permanent means of communication, across the Bushman’s and Mooi Rivers, should be constructed.”
Upper Tukela.—“Cattle thrive well in this division, and sheep in the lower part of it. Its general capabilities, nature of the soil, etc, are the same as those of the Impafane. Yellow-wood abounds under the Kahlamba mountains, and coal of a fair quality occurs in the hills on the north side of the Tukela.
“Some natives are resident under the Kahlamba: their location has not yet been reported upon.
“At Lombaard’s Drift a small party of military might be stationed with advantage, as also at Venter’s Spruit, to guard Bezuidenhout’s Pass over the Kahlamba, to keep up the communication with the country over the Kahlamba, and road to the old Colony, viâ Colesberg.”
Umzintyati.—“This division has been esteemed as particularly favourable for sheep and cattle; it has also been largely cultivated by the Boers. Anthracitic coal is found near the Washbank’s and Sunday’s Rivers, and in abundance and of excellent quality in the ravines between the Biggar’s Berg and the Umzinyati River. Excellent timber may be obtained in this division.
“A spot has been selected by the late Volks Raad, for a town on the Sunday’s River, which has lately been occupied by Andries Spies, as a farm; but the disturbed state of this division prevents us from reporting definitely upon the capabilities, from personal observation.
“Considerable numbers of natives are resident in the south-east portion of this division: their location we have not yet been able to report upon.
“The formation of each town and village must, of course, depend almost entirely upon the nature of the ground upon which it is to be traced, and that of its immediate vicinity. But it seems to us most important that each of these settlements should have some means of defence within itself;—some rallying-point for its inhabitants and adjacent farmers, in cases of emergency; and for this purpose we would recommend that the Government should erect a church, school, and magistrate’s office, with a lock-up room, placed in a defensible position; perhaps, when the ground will admit, which, in most cases we think it will, according to one or other of the annexed plans, which includes a cattle kraal in one part of the market-square, the whole to be surrounded by a fence, and flanking enclosures, to be constructed either of stone, brick, or palisades: the remaining portion of enclosures might at first be made by a ditch and mud wall, to be replaced hereafter by a more durable material.
“The size of the square and dimensions of the building, etc, must, of course, be regulated according to the importance of the proposed village or town.