Agriculture.— In the level districts of the interior, wheat, barley, oats, beans and vege tables of almost every description have been largely and successfully grown; but the chief crop everywhere is maize, of which even two good crops can be raised in the year. About 2,000,000 muids (200 lbs.) is the average an nual output. In many parts the vine' thrives well, various'fruits are cultivated and could be produced in dnlimited quantities. In the coast districts, where the climate is tropical, the sugar cane is cultivated with success. In similar localities tobacco, arrowroot, ginger, bananas, pine-apples, etc., also grow well. Tea has begun to be cultivated with good prospects and coffee is also grown to a small extent.
Commerce, total value of ex ports amount to about $25,000,000, wool being by far the largest, others being gold, sugar, coal ; the imports are valued at about $60,000,000, mostly manufactured goods. The railways, which belong to the government, have a length of 1,053 miles and extend into the Orange River Colony and Transvaal. Separate trade returns are not available since the establish ment of the Union.
Constitution and Natal, which had been annexed to Cape Colony in'1844, was placed under separate government in, 1845 and under charter of 15 July 1856 was erected into a separate colony. By this charter partially institutions nstitutions were established and, under a Natal Act of 1893, the colony obtained responsible government. The province of Zulu land was annexed to Natal in 1897. The dis tricts of Vryheid, Utrecht and part of Wakker stroom, formerly belonging to the Transvaal, were annexed to Natal in 1903. In 1910 the colony was merged in the Union of South Africa. The seat of the provincial government is Pietermaritzburg. There are an administra tor appointed by the governor-general for five years and a provincial council of 25 members elected for three years, each council having an executive committee of four, the administrator presiding at its meetings. In the Union Assem bly at Cape Town Na4•1 has 17 members.
With the exception of higher education, which is under the control of the Union, education comes under the provincial administration. There are three government high schools, two preparatory schools, 73 gov ernment primary schools, two government art schools, one agricultural and trades school, five government Indian schools, two government schools for colored children, besides 107 gov ernment-aided schools and 163 government aided farmhouse schools for European chil dren. Also there are two technical institutes, 34 Indian schools, 302 native schools and 17 colored schools, all of which receive govern ment aid, and a considerable number of private schools in the province. Three of the aided schools are secondary schools for girls. The aggregate number of European pupils in regu lar attendance at the government and inspected schools was 19,892 in 1916; the average daily attendance 86 per cent of the number on the registers. At the government high and prepar
atory schools there is an average daily attend ance of 1,274 pupils. About 1,500 children at tend private unaided schools and it is estimated that only a very small percentage of white chil dren are receiving no education. The direct government expenditure on schools for 1916 was $628,300 (excluding expenditures for fur niture, buildings, but including maintenance). Fees paid by pupils in government schools in the same year amounted to $114,445. The num ber of European children receiving gratuitous education was 3,695. The 302 schools for natives had a total enrolment of 21,700 and re ceived in 1916 grants in aid aggregating $107,935 and the 34 Indian schools had a total enrolment of 4,438, for which a grant of $28,295 was ex pended.
Natal owes its name to having been discovered on Christmas Day, 1497, by Vasco da Garna, In 1823 a small English set tlement was formed on Port Natal. Subse quently large numbers of discontented Boers from the Cape Colony entered the country as settlers. A treacherous massacre of part of the Boers by Dingaan, chief of the Zulus, in 1838, led to hostilities, in which Dingaan was ulti mately driven beyond the frontiers. In 1839 the Boers proclaimed themselves an independ ent republic, also declaring their determination to establish diplomatic relations. with European powers. The establishment of a hostile settle ment at the only port between Algoa and Dela goa bays, and at a valuable entrance from the coast to the interior of South Africa, was so obviously incompatible with British interests that a force was dispatched from the Cape and after some fighting the Boers submitted, except a discontented section, who retired beyond the Drakensberg range. The territory was' pro claimed British in 1843. It formed an integral part of the Cape Colony until 1856, when it was erected into a separate colony. Its prosperity has been affected by the Kaffir troubles, as well as by the British complications with the Trans vaal Boers; and in 1899-1900 it suffered severely in the South African War (q.v.). There was a Zulu insurrection in the Tugela region in 1906, thousands of the natives losing their lives in the subsequent fighting. By referendum in 1908 Natal determined to join the Transvaal, but in the following year was admitted as an original province of the Union of South Africa. Pop. 1,108,754, including 1,011,645 native or colored and 97,109 Europeans.
Barnett and Sweeney, 'Na tal: The State and the Citizen' (New York 1904) ; Doyle, A. C., The Great Boer War' (London 1900) ; Holden, W. C., of the Colony of Natal, South Africa' (London 1855) ; Brooks, H., 'Natal' (London 1887) • Ingram. J. F., of Natal and Zululand' (ib. 1897) ; Kermode, W., (ib. 1882) : Holt, H. P., 'Mounted Police of Natal' (Lon don 1913) • Bosman, W., The Natal Rebel lion of 1906' (ib. 1907) ; Robinson, Life time in South Africa' (ib. 900) ; Russell, tal' (ib. 1900).
J. B. McDommt.