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KAFFRARIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 630 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KAFFRARIA , the descriptive name given to the S.E. See also:

part of the Cape See also:province, See also:South See also:Africa. Kaffraria, i.e. the See also:land of the See also:Kaffirs (q.v.), is no longer an See also:official designation. It used to comprise the districts now known as See also:King See also:William's See also:Town and See also:East See also:London, which formed See also:British Kaffraria, annexed to Cape See also:Colony in 1865, and the territory beyond the Kei See also:River south of the See also:Drakensberg Mountains as far as the See also:Natal frontier, known as Kaffraria proper. As a See also:geographical See also:term it is still used to indicate the Transkeian territories of the Cape provinces comprising the four administrative divisions of See also:Transkei, Pondoland, Tembuland and Griqualand East, incorporated into Cape Colony at various periods between 1879 and 1894. They have a See also:total See also:area of 18,310 sq. m., and a See also:population (1904) of 834,644, of whom 16,777 were whites. Excluding Pondoland—not counted previously to 1904—the population had increased from 487,364 in 1891 to 631,887 in 1904. See also:Physical Features.—The physical characteristics of Kaffraria See also:bear a See also:general resemblance to those of the Cape province proper. The See also:country rises from See also:sea-level in a See also:series of terraces to the rugged range of the Drakensberg. Between that range and the See also:coast-lands are many subsidiary ranges with fertile valleys through which a large number of See also:rivers make their way to the See also:Indian Ocean. These rivers have very rapid falls in comparison to their length and when less than 40 m. from the coast are still 2000 ft. above sea-level. The See also:chief, beginning at the south, are the Kei, the Bashee, the Umtata, the St See also:John's or Umzimvubu, and the Umtamvuna, which separates Kaffraria from Natal. The St John's River rises in the Drakensberg near the Basuto-Natal frontier.

The river valley has a length of 140 m., the river with its many twists being See also:

double that length. It receives numerous tributaries, one, the Tsitza, possessing a magnificent See also:waterfall, the river leaping over an almost See also:vertical precipice of 375 ft. The St John's reaches the sea between precipitous cliffs some 1200 ft. high and covered with verdure. The mouth is obstructed by a See also:sand See also:bar over which there is 14 ft. of See also:water. None of the rivers of Kaffraria except the St John's is navigable. Kaffraria is one of the most fertile regions in South Africa. The See also:mountain See also:gorges abound in See also:fine trees, thick See also:forest and See also:bush See also:cover the river See also:banks, grass grows luxuriantly in the See also:lower regions, and the lowlands and valleys are favourable to almost any See also:kind of See also:fruit, See also:field and See also:garden cultivation. The coast districts are very hot in summer, the temperature from See also:October to See also:April on an See also:average varying from 70° to 90° F., while in See also:winter the See also:day temperature is seldom below 50°, though the nights are very See also:cold. But the variation in See also:altitude places climates of all grades within easy reach, from the burning coast to the often See also:snow-clad mountain. See also:Thunder-storms are frequent in summer; the winters are generally dry. On the whole the See also:climate is extremely healthy. At St John's are See also:sulphur springs.

A considerable area is devoted to the raising of See also:

wheat and other cereals, especially in the See also:northern See also:district (Griqualand East), where in the higher valleys are many farms owned by Europeans. Large quantities of stock are raised. Most of the land is held by the natives under tribal See also:tenure, and the ease with which their wants are supplied is detrimental to the full cultivation of the land. Kaffraria is, however, one of the chief recruiting grounds for labour throughout South Africa. Most of the See also:white inhabitants are engaged in See also:trade. Towns and Communication.—The chief town is See also:Kokstad (q.v.), pop. (1904), 2903, the See also:capital of Griqualand East. Umtata (2100 ft. above the sea, pop. 2342) on the river of the same name, capital of Tembuland, is the See also:residence of an assistant chief See also:magistrate, headqquarters of a See also:division of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and seat of the See also:Anglican bishopric of Kaffraria. The See also:principal buildings are the See also:cathedral, a See also:Gothic structure, built 1901-1906, and the town-See also:hall, a fine See also:building in See also:Renaissance See also:style, erected 1907-1908. See also:Port St John is the chief town in Pondoland, and the only See also:harbour of the country. Butterworth is the chief town in Transkei.

Cala (pop. about See also:

i000), in the N.W. part of Tembuland, is the educational centre of Kaffraria. A railway, 107 M. See also:long, the first See also:link in the See also:direct Cape-Natal See also:line, runs from Indwe, 65 m. from Sterkstroom Junction on the See also:main line from East London to the See also:Transvaal, to Maclear, an agricultural centre in Griqualand East. Another railway parallel but south of that described also traverses Kaffraria. Starting from Amabele, a station on the main line from East London to the See also:north, it goes via Butterworth (132 M. from East London) to Umtata (234 m.). See also:Administration and See also:Justice.-The Cape administrative and judicial See also:system is in force, See also:save as modified by See also:special enactments of the Cape See also:parliament. A " Native Territories Penal See also:Code " which came into operation on the 1st of See also:January 1887 governs the relations of the natives, who are under the See also:jurisdiction of a chief magistrate (See also:resident at Cape Town) with subordinate magistrates in the Territories. In See also:civil affairs the tribal organization and native See also:laws are maintained. No chief, however, exercises criminal jurisdiction. Since 1898 certain provisions of the Glen See also:Grey See also:Act have been applied to Kaffraria. (see GLEN GREY). The See also:revenue is included in the See also:ordinary See also:budget of the Cape province. The See also:expenditure on Kaffraria considerably exceeds the revenue derived from it.

The See also:

franchise laws are the same as in the Cape proper. Though the Kaffirs out, number the whites by fifty to one, white men See also:form the bulk of the electorate, which in 1904 numbered 4778. See also:Religion.—See also:Numbers of See also:Protestant missionary See also:societies have churches and educational establishments in Kaffraria, but, except in Fingoland, the bulk of the Kaffirs are See also:heathen. The Griquas profess See also:Christianity and have their own churches and ministers. The Anglican See also:diocese of St John's, Kaffraria, was founded in 1873. See also:Annexation to the Cape.—The See also:story of the conflicts between the Kaffir tribes and the Cape colonists is told under CAFE COLONY. As See also:early as 1819 Kaffirland, or Kaffraria, was held not to extend See also:west beyond the Keiskamma River. The region east of that river as far as the Kei River became in 1847 the See also:Crown colony of British Kaffraria, and was annexed to Cape Colony in 1865. The Transkeian territories remained in nominal See also:independence until 1875, when the See also:Tembu sought British See also:protection. An inter-tribal See also:war in 1877 between See also:Fingo and Gcaleka resulted in the territory of the Gcaleka chief Kreli being occupied by the British. It was not, however, till 1879 that Fingoland and the Idutywa Reserve, together with the district then commonly called Noman's-land, were proclaimed an integral part of the Cape. About this See also:time most of the See also:rest of Kaffraria came under British See also:control, but it was 1885 before Gcalekaland, the coast region of Transkei, and the various districts comprising Tembuland—Bomvanaland on the coast, Tembuland Proper and Emigrant Tembuland—were annexed to the colony.

By the annexation, the frontier of the colony was carried to the Umtata River, so that by 1885 only Pondoland, fronting on the Indian Ocean, separated the Cape from Natal. In Pondoland, Port St John, proclaimed British territory in 1881, was, along with the lower reaches of the St John's River, incorporated with Cape Colony in 1884; in 1886 the Xesibe country (See also:

Mount Ayliff) was annexed to the Cape and added to Griqua-land East; and in the following See also:year Rhode Valley was included within the boundary line. The rest of Pondoland, chiefly in virtue of a British See also:protectorate established over all the coast region in 1885, was already more or less under British control, and in 1894 it was annexed to the Cape in its entirety. Thus the whole of Kaffraria was incorporated in Cape Colony, with the exception of some 1550 sq. m., then part of Noman's-land, annexed by Natal in 1866 and named See also:Alfred See also:county. To the See also:wise administration of See also:Major See also:Sir See also:Henry G. Elliot, who served in Kaffraria in various official capacities from 1877 to 1903, the country owes much of its prosperity. Particulars concerning each of the four divisions of Kaffraria follow. Griqualand East (area, 7594 sq. m.), so called to distinguish it from Griqualand West, a district north of the See also:Orange River, lies between See also:Basutoland (N.W.), Natal (N.E.), Tembuland (S.W.) and Pondoland (S.E.). It occupies the See also:southern slopes of the Drakensberg or the fertile valleys at their feet. It includes most of the region formerly called Noman's-land, and afterwards named See also:Adam Kok's Land from the Griqua chief who occupied it in 1862 with the consent of the British authorities, and governed the country till his See also:death in 1876, establishing a volksraad on the Dutch See also:model. The Griquas are still ruled by an officially appointed See also:head-See also:man. The See also:majority of the inhabitants are Basutos and Kaffirs (Pondomisi, Ama-Baka and other tribes).

The Griquas number about 6000. Since its annexation to Cape Colony Griqualand East has made fairly rapid progress. The population See also:

rose from 121,000 in 1881 to 222,685 in 1904, of whom 5901 were whites. Stock-breeding on the uplands, tillage on the lower slopes of the Drakensberg, are the chief See also:industries. On these slopes and uplands the climate is delightful and well suited to Europeans. There is considerable trade with Basutoland in See also:grain and stock, and through Kokstad with Port St John and Port See also:Shepstone, Natal. Much of the best agricultural land is owned by Europeans. Tembuland (area, 4122 sq. M.), which lies S.W. of Griqualand East and comprises the districts of Tembuland Proper, Emigrant Tembuland and Bomvanaland, takes its name from, the Tembu nation, called sometimes Tambookies, one of the most powerful of the Kaffir See also:groups. In the See also:national genealogies the Tembu hold an See also:honourable position, being traditionally descended from Tembu, See also:elder See also:brother of Xosa, from whom most of the other Kaffirs claim descent. The inhabitants increased from about 16o,000 in 1881 to 231,472 in 1904, of whom 8056 were whites. The chief town is Umtata.

Transkei (area, 2552 sq. m.) comprises the districts of Fingoland, the Idutywa Reserve and Gcalekaland, this last being named from the Gcaleka nation, who claim to be the See also:

senior See also:branch of the Xosa See also:family, the principal royal line of the Kaffir tribes. They still form the chief See also:element of the population, which rose from 136,000 in 1881 to 177,730 in 1904 (1707 whites). Here are some prosperous missionary stations, where the natives are taught See also:agriculture, See also:mechanical industries and a knowledge of letters. The heroic deeds of Hinza, Kreli and other chiefs famous in the See also:wars are still remembered; but See also:witchcraft, See also:rain-making and other See also:pagan practices seem to have died out. Even more advanced in all social respects are the Fingo, who give their name to the district of Fingoland, and also form the bulk of the population in the Idutywa Reserve. They See also:wear See also:European clothes, support their See also:schools by voluntary contributions, edit See also:newspapers, translate See also:English See also:poetry, set their national songs to correct See also:music, and the majority profess Christianity. The See also:industrial institution of Blythswood, .about 20 M. N.W. of Butterworth, is a branch of See also:Lovedale (q.v.), and is largely supported by the Fingo. Pondoland (area, 4040 sq. m.; pop. (1904), 202,757 (including 1113 whites), an estimated increase of 36,000 since 189r) is bounded E. by the sea, N. by Natal, W. by Griqualand East, by S. and Tembuland. In Pondoland the See also:primitive organization of the natives has been little altered and the See also:influence of the chiefs is very See also:great. Land is held almost wholly in tribal tenure, though a number of whites possess farms acquired before the annexation of the country.

The See also:

Pondo have shown some appreciation of the benefits of See also:education. See G. McCall Theal's See also:History of South Africa and other See also:works cited under CAPE COLONY; also The Native or Transkeian Territories, by C. C. Henkel (See also:Hamburg, 1903), a useful handbook by an ex-official in the Transkeian Territories.

End of Article: KAFFRARIA

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