Notes on Natal : an old colonist's book for new settlers / edited by John Robinson.
- John Robinson
- Date:
- 1872
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Notes on Natal : an old colonist's book for new settlers / edited by John Robinson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![Where gardens are situated below a constant stream of ruuniaig water, as most are in these up-counties, vegeta- bles of all sorts thrive remarkably well, especially the large onions which cannot be grown in some parts of the colony. Grapes come to perfection most 3'ears, if trained on the wall of a house having a north-eiast prospect, and sheltered from the blighting north-west, or interior winds, but the vines planted in open ground are sub- ject to rust. Gardening without the means of ii-iigation, generally speaking, is heartless work in this, probably the driest, district in Natal, as regards the atmosphere, but for springs and streams perhaps the most favom-ed. In almost every county in this colony there is a fair pro- portion of open and bush country, but the land is very different in some respects. The bush country of the upper districts excepting in small spots where homesteads are fixed, and where there are small plots of alluvial deposit, is composed of shaley and stoney ground, so arid in appearance that one wonders where the bush or shrab, rather than trees, can find soil enough for nourishment, and that part of the cotmtry is notoriously the driest. Indigenous trees, excepting the camel thorn (acacia) and those growing along the banks of the river (which are mostly bare of trees), grow in kloofs having a southerly aspect, and where moisture is driven from springs rising in the hills above them. From my observation I cannot understand the theory that tree planting attracts moistui-e, as it happens here that the bush land is the driest, and where timber grows there is high land of hills and mountains having, in the writer's opinion, a greater attraction for rain than trees have. Although the bush cannot be classed as trees, the shi'ubs have limb and leaf the same, and the few feet difference in height surely can have but an inappreciable influence on the upj)er atmosphere. Having so far to convey their produce, the farmers natiu'ally complain of the bad state of re]3air the roads are kept in, and yet it is contemplated opening out about 50 or 60 miles of new road which would require to be kept in repair-, but most likely would be in the same condition as the main road is or worse. At all events it is certain there are more roads ah'eady than the Colonial Engineer's Department can manage to keep in decent order. We do not want more bad roads, but a railway to develoiJ the eai-thly treasures Ijong so much to waste here, but so useful to neighbouring countries, such as the Gaipe, Mauritius, Aden, and India. The railway in point of time would, of coixrse, bring the diamond-fields](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24750517_0222.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
