"It isn't a very dark region," said he, "as it has been settled and colonized, and has a good many marks of civilization. It has railways and stage lines, telegraphs and newspapers, hotels and factories, together with many other things you would hardly expect to find. It was once a fine hunting-ground for the great game of Africa, but at present the wild animals are difficult to find, as the most of them have been killed or driven off.
"Cumming, Anderson, Baldwin, and others have given us accounts of their adventures. Some of their stories convey the impression that the country was once so thickly inhabited by wild beasts that it was impossible to take a walk before breakfast without encountering a lion or an elephant, a rhinoceros or a giraffe. That happy time is gone forever, and the greater part of South Africa is delivered from the dangers that made it so fascinating to the lovers of destruction.
"To begin with," continued the youthful historian, "the most important part of South Africa is Cape Colony, better known to us as the Cape of Good Hope."
NATIVE OF CAPE COLONY.
"It is important, I suppose," remarked Fred, "because it was settled before any other part of that end of the continent, and contains the greatest population."
"Exactly so," responded Frank; "it was settled by the Dutch about 1650, and, with the exception of a few years, remained in their possession till 1806, when it fell into the hands of the English. At that time it had an area of one hundred and twenty thousand square miles, and a population of sixty-one thousand. Now it covers an area of three hundred thousand square miles, with a population of more than a million, according to the figures in Silver's 'Hand-book for South Africa' and other works."
Fred asked how it happened that the area of the colony had increased so much since the English obtained possession of it.
"Thereby hangs a tale," replied Frank, "and it is to some extent a tale of British oppression and cruelty. Previous to the English occupation of the Cape the colonists consisted of Dutch and French emigrants and their descendants. The former were known as Boers, from the Dutch word boer, a peasant, while the latter were mostly Huguenots, who had fled to escape religious persecution. They were never reconciled to the British rule, and in the year 1835 there was a general movement for emigrating to the wilderness and founding a republic of their own.