CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, a province in the Union of South Africa, formerly Cape Colony, is situated at the southern extremity of Africa, washed on the west, south and east by the ocean, and having on the north and north east the German territory of Great Namaqua land, the British territory of Bechuanaland, Orange Free State province, Basutoland and the province of Natal. A considerable portion of the boundary on the north is formed by the Orange River. The colony extends about 450 miles from north to south, and 600 from east to west; the coast line is about 1,300 miles. The area is 276,000 square miles. The principal indentations of the coast are Saint Helena, Saldanha, Table, False, Walker, Mossel, Plet tenberg, Saint Francis and Algoa bays.
In the interior almost every variety of soil and surface is found, but a great part of the colony is arid and uninviting in appearance. Several ranges of mountains, running nearly parallel to the southern coast, divide the coun try into successive terraces, rising as they re cede into the interior, between which lie belts of fertile land, or vast treeless and barren looking plains. One of these, called the Great Karoo, is 300 miles long and 100 broad, and presents a desolate appearance, having a dry and often baked soil, with small shrubby plants scattered over it. Yet these plains make val uable sheep-walks, the flocks thriving exceed ingly well upon the scanty vegetation; and the soil, where water can be obtained by collecting the rain, is generally very fertile. Large reser voirs have been constructed in many places, and permanent homesteads established where for merly flocks could only be maintained for a month or six weeks at a time. The principal and farthest inland mountain terrace averages 6,000 or 7,000 feet in height, and, commenc ing in Namaqualand, runs eastward under the names of Roggeveld, Nieuwveld, Sneeuwber gen, Stormbergen, etc., to the northeast fron tier. The culminating point is the Compass Berg, over 8,000 feet high. The Table Moun tain at Cape Town is a stupendous mass of naked rock, rising almost perpendicularly, about 3,585 feet in height. The colony is deficient in nvers, though in this respect the eastern half is more favored than the western. The Orange River is the largest in this part of Africa, but is of little or no use for navigation. Others are the Elephants or Olifants River, flowing into the Atlantic; the Gauritz, Gamtoos, Great Fish, Sunday and Great Kei, emptying themselves into the sea on the south and southeast.
The most valuable mineral product is dia monds; copper ore is largely exported, coal is mined, and iron ore, gold, amethysts, agates, etc., are found. The bulk of the diamonds that come into the markets of the world in the rough state are now obtained from Cape Col ony. The great mining centre is Kimberley,
in the far north of the colony, about 10 miles from the Vaal River, and near the frontier of the Orange River Colony. So far as is known, the first of the South African diamonds was casually picked up in 1867, and soon after sev eral others were found, including a fine large stone known as the "Star of South Africa.' By the early part of 1870 so many diamonds had been found that a rush of people to the diamond district began to take place, and the banks of the Vaal were soon covered with thousands of diggers. At first the precious stones were found on or near the surface, but subsequently it was discovered that they were to be found deeper down, and latterly they have been obtained many hundreds of feet below the surface, great open excavations having been made at the localities where they are plentiful. The richest mine has been the Kimberley mine, situated in the centre of the town of the same name, which sprang up around it. For the first hundred feet in depth the diamonds were found embedded in a soft, friable, yellowish earth; below that the soil changed to a slaty blue color, and was of a firmer consistency, and the diggers then thought that the bottom of the mine had been reached. It was soon dis covered, however, that the blue ground yielded as many diamonds as the yellow, if not more, and this productivity has still continued. An other famous mine is the De Beers mine. Both these mines have yielded a remarkable number of large stones, but a great many of the dia monds have been "off-color,' that is, yellow, spotted or otherwise defective in water or lustre. One of the finest yet found in South Africa is the "Porter Rhodes,' a beautiful stone weighing 150 carats, and valued at $303, 000. One much larger, a yellow stone, weigh ing 302 carats, was found in 1884, and a still larger, weighing 42854 carats, was found in the De Beers mine in 1:::. The largest in the world, weighing 971 carats, but with a large flaw, was found in the Orange Free State in 1R91 Although mining operations have been carried on at great expense, owing to the depths to which the workings have been sunk (some 600 feet or more), the profits of the companies which latterly have owned the mines have been enormous. The rough work has been done almost entirely by the native Africans, of whom 10,000 or 11,000 have been in employment in the mines at one time. Very stringent regu lations have had to be enforced to prevent theft of the precious stones, and also illicit dealing in stones unlawfully acquired.