THE KATANGA, which forms part of the Congo-Zambesi divide, is at present attracting considerable attention on account of its great mineral wealth. This consists principally of copper, but tin and gold are also obtained, and other minerals are known to exist. The Palaeozoic rocks, in which all these occur, lie at an elevation of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet above sea-level, in a region which is suitable for white settlement, though, owing to its remote posi tion, the obstacles in the way of its exploitation are very great. Labour is difficult to get ; and food supplies have to be obtained from Rhodesia and the Cape, as the Katanga itself is not an agri cultural region, though experimental farms have recently been established within it. The want of fuel on the spot is also a great drawback, and coal has to be imported from the Wankie field ; but it is possible that power may be obtained in the future by utilising the abundant supplies of water for the generation of electricity. At present, all that can be said is that the Katanga appears to be rich in mineral wealth, that it is practically un developed, and that its development will be a slow and costly matter. Elisabethville, the chief town on it, is connected with the
Cape-to-Cairo railway at Broken Hill in Northern Rhodesia.
COMMUNICATIONS.—The Congo and its tributaries offer nearly 7,000 miles of navigable waterway within the State, and, so far, little has been done to develop other means of communication. One railway has been constructed between Matadi and Leopold ville to circumvent the series of rapids by which the Congo descends from the plateau, upon which it flows, to its estuary ; another runs from Stanleyville to Ponthierville to avoid the Stanley Falls ; while a third connects Kindu with Kongolo. It is pro posed to continue the line from Elisabethville to Bukama on the Lualaba, so that there may be continuous rail and river communication from the Katanga to the Atlantic.