THE "MARCH OF CIVILIZATION."
"Look at the map," said he as he spread it before his cousin, "and see how much it resembles that of a group of our own States." They spent half an hour or more in pointing out real or fancied similarities as their eyes ran over the outlines of the colonies and their numerous subdivisions. Fred was amused with many of the names of towns and districts, and Frank explained that they were mostly given by the Boers, and indicated how much those energetic colonists had been concerned in the settlement and development of the country.
"Here is Pietermaritzburg," said Frank, "the chief town of Natal. It is compounded of the names of two famous Boer leaders in the struggle for independence—Pieter Retief and Gert Maritz. And here is Potscherfstroom, in Transvaal, a town which is intended to commemorate three popular men among the Boers, by taking a syllable from each of their names. They were Potgieter, Scherf, and Stockenstroom."
"You can go on through the colonies," said he, "and find many names of similar origin. Everywhere that you traverse the country and enter the house of a Boer you will be hospitably welcomed, as soon as it is known you are not an Englishman; and you will find the host and his family plain, honest, pious, and industrious. Of course there are exceptions; but they only, like exceptions everywhere, serve to prove the rule. There is no people in the world more pious than the Boers. They have morning and evening devotions, and many of the families are in possession of the Bibles that their ancestors brought from Europe one or two hundred years ago.
"South Africa is an agricultural and grazing region, and there are some curious facts connected with the growth of its industries. Seventy years ago the Governor of Cape Town threw two wagon-loads of wool into the sea, because there was no use for it. At present the value of the wool annually exported from Cape Colony is nearly twenty million dollars. Diamonds were discovered in 1868 on the banks of the Vaal River, and afterward in several other districts, and since then the diamond mines have attracted a great many people. The production has been so great that the diamond market of the world has been seriously affected. The precious stones have diminished considerably in value, but, fortunately for the owners of Brazilian and East Indian diamonds, those from South Africa are nearly all of them 'off color.'"
SCENE IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND MINES.
"What do you mean by 'off color?'" Fred asked.