Chapter I: Foreword

“Of making many books there is no end,” said the Preacher, but strange to say, there is not a single book in the English language that deals with South-West Africa of modern days. Many references to the country are found in the older books of South African travel and exploration, and some good works have been written in later times by German authors; but, unfortunately, the German publications are not available for the average reader. In the present volume an attempt has been made to set before the reader a brief but comprehensive account of the country, its history, its people, its resources, and its possibilities. It is impossible in a small book to deal more than briefly with the subject, and very slight treatment has had to suffice for many matters of interest. I hope, however, that I have succeeded in conveying a clear impression of what South-West Africa is, and what it may become. Brief and unpretentious though the book is, it may serve to dispel the notion that the country is nothing more than a desert and of very little value to the Empire.

My thanks are due to Dr. Rudolf Marloth, of Cape Town; Prof. E. H. Schwatz, of the Rhodes University College, Grahamstown; Dr. Wm. Flint, Librarian of the Houses of Parliament, Cape Town; Mr. F. W. Fitzsimons, Director of the Museum, Port Elizabeth; and Mr. John Ross, of the Kimberley Public Library, for valuable suggestions. My debt to various writers I have endeavoured to acknowledge elsewhere.

W. E.

Kimberley, South Africa.
1915.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER. PAGE

I. THE LAND 13

II. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 37

III. THE FLORA OF THE COUNTRY 53

IV. THE FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY 71

V. THE EARLY DAYS 89

VI. THE LATER HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 113

VII. THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 133

VIII. THE PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY 157

IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY 173

X. THE DIAMOND FIELDS 197

XI. THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY 225

SOUTH-WEST AFRICA