The Cape and Its Story; Or, the Struggle for South Africa (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ...of the first discoveries was made in 1867 by a hunter named Hartley. He had shot an elephant, and when he proceeded to remove the ivory he found that in falling the huge animal had dug one of his tusks into the ground. The soil thus broken up disclosed some glittering quartz, and as the hunter looked more closely he saw that a gold mine lay before him. In the course of a few years gold was found in various places, and at Zimbabwe some very ancient workings were discovered by a German explorer named Mauch. Near them were a ruined temple and fort, also of great antiquity; and investigation showed that Mashonaland is in all probability the country called in the Bible the land of Ophir, from which King Solomon obtained his supply of gold. The discovery of gold attracted numerous prospectors to Mashonaland, and towards the end of 1888 three Englishmen--Messrs. Rudd, Thomson, and Macguire--induced Lobengula, the son of Moselekatse, to put his mark to a document giving them the right to dig for metals in his country. This was the first of a series of sim-ilar concessions obtained from the Matabele king by other prospectors; and in the course of 1889, Mr. Cecil John Rhodes, having gathered up the concessions, formed the British South Africa Company, which was incorporated under a royal charter on the twenty-ninth of October 1889. Lobengula's original concessions had been intended merely as permits to a few small parties of prospectors to search for metal for which the Matabele had no par ticular use. At the same time the king fully intended (1,091) that the country should remain under his rule, and he had no idea whatever of handing it over to the British Government, or to any company, chartered or otherwise. Mr. Rhodes and the Imperial...