CHAPTER VII.

NECESSITIES FOR EXPLORATION IN WILD

AND UNHEALTHY DISTRICTS.

THE explorer in districts where no accommodation is available should be careful to provide himself with all necessary equipments, such as tents, waterproof sleeping-bags, blankets, and food. Some knowledge of cures against poisonous bites and stings should be gained before undertaking expeditions to lonely spots, also against malaria fever and other sicknesses peculiar to the country. The best mode of travelling is with ox-waggon or donkeys, or, failing these, Kaffirs can even be employed to carry the outfit. Stations or camps can be pitched wherever favourable, whence all operations can proceed and to which return can always be made after a day's exploration. Great caution is essential in the choosing of sleeping places, it being best always to select these well above river beds, where the heavy mists usually hang, for the influence of malaria is more active in low parts near the ground, especially where the soil has been dug up and after the sun has gone down.

Heights above 4000 feet are generally considered to be free from malaria; persons affected with this disease in such altitudes have usually contracted it in the lower country, it may be years prior to the disease becoming manifest. People suffering from fever in the low country must not move to the high land, on account of the sudden change of temperature. This is especially the case in the De Kaap Valley towards Jamestown and the Crocodile river, the Klein Letaba, Murchison Range, and Pilgrim's Rest. It is also advisable never to sit under shady trees or upon cold stones, as the heated system gets chilled and dangerous sickness is likely to ensue. Wet clothes should be changed at once, and, if possible, only boiled water drunk. Generally speaking, the person who is constantly active, and who has led, and continues to lead, a regular temperate life, will maintain his health even in those parts where

the fever is known to be prevalent. The time from November to April (called the fever time) is particularly unhealthy for horses and mules, and few can stand much work during this period. The "horse-sickness," simply so-called locally, is, one may say, a pest through which thousands of animals are lost yearly, especially in low-lying fields. From 4000 to 6000 feet above sea level is generally reckoned to be healthy for these animals. Where, however, the country gets more civilised, this disease has a tendency to disappear. No real cure has been found, though there are some who recover from the sickness, which may be due either to some so-called remedy or to the work of nature.

The animals which have recovered from this disease are called "salted," and are, in consequence, generally higher in value; but a slight relapse every year, in the corresponding month to that when the disease formerly occurred, must be expected, and the animal should be rested at that time. Many horses die through carelessness during this period. They should always be well stabled at night and not brought out in the morning till the heavy dews are all evaporated. The signs of the disease are only apparent and dangerous after the fifth day.

It is generally recognised that donkeys, although very slow, are more useful in this country. These animals are not particular as to the quality of their food, they are much more hardy, and less liable to sicknesses than horses. In the wilder parts, such as Lows Creek in Crocodile River Valley and other low-lying districts, the poisonous tsetze fly (Glossina morsitans) abounds; but it occupies only strip-like areas rarely higher than 3000 feet above sea level.

Prospecting in such infested districts is best accomplished on foot, accompanied by Kaffir carriers, for all animals, except wild game (especially buffalo), are very liable to be fatally attacked.

CHAPTER VIII.

HINTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DE KAAP, KOMATI, AND SWAZILAND GOLDFIELDS.

ONE naturally asks why goldfields so wealthy as these are should be in such a backward state? There are four reasons for it, viz. :-(1) The difficulties and hardships of the earlier days; (2) the first boom and subsequent slump; (3) the discovery of the Witwatersrand Goldfield; (4) insufficient prospecting.

The first gold-seekers, owing to the great hardships they had to endure and the difficulties to be surmounted in travelling over such mountainous country, were forced to neglect much of their prospecting work, as all their energies were expended in the struggle for mere existence. After a few encouraging discoveries had been made a great boom ensued, and prospectors began to find their work "inconvenient," for money was given with so free a hand to anyone who would peg out ground, no matter what it contained, that they preferred to earn their living thus easily. Realising later that this was done in excitement, and that heavy sums were lost, there was a falling off in the investments, a sudden slump ensued, and most of the prospectors went to the healthier and rising Witwatersrand Goldfield, so that the bulk of the remaining inhabitants were either store-keepers, officials, or farmers.

In 1895 there was a revival of interest in these fields, but the baneful effects of the Jameson Raid made the people wary of investing, and since then little progress has been made. The following particulars, showing the great prospective value of these goldfields are worth consideration:

(1) The discoveries of gold that have been made are thus notified in the journals mentioned :—

In Dr. A. Petermann's Mittheilungen for 1879 it is reported that the South African Goldfields

From 1866 to 1870 yielded gold to the value of £23,000

1873, 1874

1874 1875

The Volkstem says:—In 1874 Mr. Forster has taken out of his claim one nugget weighing 87 ounces, and Mr. Dickson one nugget weighing 60 ounces; and that, in 1875, nuggets have *been found, having the weights mentioned in ounces, by C. Russel Lilley & Co., 213; Cameron, 69; Holland, 29; M'Kemie, 57; and (names unknown) 47.

The Goldfield Mercury gives the following finds of nuggets :September 11, 1874, Messrs. Stibbs and Ross, 48 ounces; December 18, Chartterton and Hodgson, 69 ounces; January 8, 1875, in Pilgrim's Rest, 96 ounces; January 27, same place, 57 ounces.

The Eastern Province Herald reports that, in 1875, nuggets were sent to Port-Elizabeth, principally from Pilgrim's Rest, including some weighing 4 lbs. pure gold, which had an aggregate weight of 1680 ounces.

In the Devil's Kantoor nuggets have been found from time to time; the gold in one twelvemonth weighed 55 ounces, in another two-month period 96 ounces, while one nugget had a weight of 84 ounces.

This shows that gold nuggets of fine quality and of large size have been obtained from places which have, perhaps, been long since lost sight of.

(2) The alluvial and other finds mentioned in the yearly outputs attracted the attention of investors, who soon became property owners.

(3) Although the properties changed from one owner to another, they were never abandoned.

(4) The auriferous lines traceable for many miles, on which there are properties of undoubted value, including, as they do, the undermentioned mines :-Abbott, Agnes Block, Alpine, Albion, Barrett's Berlin, Blue Rock, Belfast, Bellevue, Cornstock, Consort, Constance Atlas, City of Grahamstown, Clutha, Daisy Reef, Doornhock (Steynsdorp district), Durham Allan, Eagle's Nest, East Sheba Reef, Figaro, Florence Reef, Forbes Reef, Great Scot, Ivy Leaf, Joe's Reef, Jeppes Concession, Kimberley Sheba, Kololondo Concession, Liverpool Block, Macongwa Block (Low's Creek), Moodies Fortuna, Moodies Homestake, Moodies Golden Hill, Mount Morgan, New Brighton, New Scotsman, North Star, North Sheba, Oratava, Oriental, Pioneer, Pigg's Peak, Royal Sheba, Sheba Mine, Sheba Hill, Sheba Queen, Sheba West, Southern Cross, Tiger Trap, Thistle, Thomas, Ulundi, Unuvoti, United Ivy, Union, Walhalla, Weltevreden Farm, Weltevreden Estate, Woodstock, Woodbine, Victoria Hill, Zwaart Kopjes, Zwaart Kopjes Low Level, Zwaart Kopjes West, and others.

(5) The few regularly gold-producing mines given in the tables on pp. 46-52, such as Sheba, Ivy, and Barrett's Berlin, are all due to good management by the energetic investor, proving that gold is obtainable at deep levels.

These considerations lead to the conclusion that these discoveries, rich and poor, from year to year, and spread over only a certain area or line, are the indicators and forerunners of the much larger treasure that has yet to be found.

That little exploration has been done, the recent discovery in 1895 of Zwaart Kopjes, in the immediate neighbourhood of the Sheba, gives evidence. No doubt many prospectors and employees of the Sheba mine had frequently walked over this very ground without noticing its remarkable golden outcrop.

Again, in 1897, another rich strike was made above the Moodies Fortuna mine, close to a footpath ascending the hill; this conspicuous outcrop also must often have been passed by. The author has had many opportunities of visiting most of the properties where good chutes, both in quality and size, were exposed at a low level, and he sees no reason why, if economical means are used, profitable concerns may not be organised in the future. This will no doubt come to pass when mining material can be obtained at more reasonable prices than heretofore, and honest energetic work has taken the place of speculation.

An examination of the debris from many crushings and of the ore crushed on properties that are now at a standstill shows that the mining and testing was only artificially done, as the auriferous quartz is often found to be mixed with "dead" country rock, which, if carefully sorted, would make the output more satisfactory, and save time in the unnecessary crushing of rock. The tailings are noticed, by panning, to be still rich in gold, showing that testing has not been fully carried out.