"THOU ART SO NEAR AND YET SO FAR."

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pose the indigo of Natal, which grows wild on all sides. Some little effort has, I believe, been made, to initiate indigo manufactories. A very good internal trade, and a little export business is carried on in preserved fruits. As Mr. Noble points out in speaking of the Cape Colony, tons of fruit now allowed to rot, might be collected and preserved for home use. Natal cayenne is unrivalled in the world's market. It is not generally known that the ground nut a little luxury so dear to the heart of the street Arab of London-grows extensively in Zululand and Natal, where it is collected and roasted, this method of preparation being especially in the hands of the coolies. The penniless and simple swain, who flattens his nose against the window panes of the small general shops of Whitechapel or Long Acre, or in any other locality, metropolitan or otherwise, where the establishments which dispense such dainties exist, and exhibit their wares to the full gaze of the foot passenger-would be surprised if he knew that the principal habitat of his petty luxury was separated from him by ten thousand miles of space.

Potatoes are very scarce, but yams and sweet potatoes are plentiful enough.

With regard to arrowroot, this is an industry which has not been overdone, and it pays admirably. It is said that Natalians, who have remained true to the cultivation of that highly nutritious plant, and have abstained from meddling with anything else, have now the largest balance at their bankers.

As to coffee, it cannot be said, in any sense, to have flourished well in the Colony. In the sub-tropical climate of Natal, the coffee plant buds, flowers, and develops its berries in the most. erratic manner all the year round. Thus double, if not treble, labour is necessary in the selection of the fruit, in short, it has to be gathered two or three times over. Coffee bears its berries in this most inconvenient fashion. The unhappy grower whose trees are budding, flowering, and bearing all at the same moment is placed on the horns of a dilemma. Either he must sacrifice much of his crop, or else he must submit to two outlays in the way of labour. This is a very awkward position to be in, in that labour is not only expensive, but often absolutely unprocurable.

The Kaffirs, who are under monthly terms of engagement, are as likely as not to leave one at a most critical juncture, when fine crops must be gathered or perish. This has too often proved disastrous to the prospects of the coffee and sugar planters. What kind of luck would our hop farmers call it, if, in addition to all the other risks to which they are exposed, they were finally checkmated entirely, by having to whistle for labour, when the burr had become fully ripe and ready to be gathered in? The Natalians have imported coolie labour, which is far more reliable than the so-called aboriginal labour, to meet the difficulty. But coolie labour is expensive, in that the importer has to pay the passage money of his servant from India to Natal, and back again. The coolie is bound for three years only, and it so happens that the unfortunate employer who cannot with all his prescience be expected to see so far into futurity, is often compelled to dispense with the services of the coolies, and let them return home, when he most imperatively requires their services.

There is plenty of soil favourable to the growth of coffee in Natal, but it is not always to be found in a convenient spot, that

is to say near the coast. At Sydenham, near Durban, the house and plantations of the late Mr. Randall are situate. Poor man, he was prosperous, and yet beloved, not with the eye-service-love which all rich men can command to satiety, but with a more real and a deeper feeling. All about his house the soil is of that dark chocolate colour, which betokens a stratum of earth so favourable to the growth of coffee. The hillsides having been entirely divested of bush, this fact was plainly discernable. The initial existence of the bush is, however, a great desideratum, it prepares the way for the coffee. With all these advantages in his favour, Mr. Randall was too shrewd to be allured into the dangerous enterprise of coffee planting. I have seen many and many coffee estates entirely neglected, the owners being either unable to incur the expense of gathering in the berries, or not caring to run the risk of so doing.

The locale in coffee growing is a great part of the battle. Sheltered terraces near the bottom of hills are the best situations, the wind and cold, of the higher ground and the moisture of the

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valleys are alike fatal to coffee. The foregoing long list of vexations and trials, which make the coffee planter's life in Natal far from a happy life, are only a few of the sum total of those considerations which, taking one with another, conspire to render the planter's life well nigh unbearable. The worst of all remains behind. Many otherwise prosperous estates have been entirely ruined by the borer-bettle, a little parasitic insect, which devours the berries so soon as they are formed.

It seems wonderful that it has not occurred to men of such indomitable pluck, courage, and fertility of expedient, as the Natalians undoubtedly are, that they might succeed in getting rid of this pest, if they should set some entomological scientist to study the habits of the unwelcome intruder, and thereby discover among other things which might be turned against it, what may be the particular parasite by which it, itself, is infested. The French have at all events kept the phylloxera, which devastates their vineyards, in bounds, by introducing from America a mightier warrior than their fell enemy, which ally makes short shift of the phylloxera, and having accomplished its task, dies. By similar means the Yankees have kept under the Colorado beetle, and surely the borer beetle must have some natural enemy, and if this enemy be a weak foe, there can be little doubt that were careful experiments tried, some kind friend among the insect loving animals could be induced to develop a passion for the objectional insect. Animals and birds have been known to like a change of diet, in the same way as their more fastidious relative, the human biped. Natal, however, looks on apathetically at the mischief wrought by the voracious beetle. Labor ipse voluptas is a very pretty sentiment, the Natalian may reply, but anyone who has had such a series of disappointments and trials as have fallen to our lot, may well be excused for thinking the aphorism a little threadbare. They have a Colonial geologist in the Cape Colony, and I believe in Natal, and I think a government entomologist would not be out of place, whose first task should be to ascertain the wicked ways of the borer beetle.

All said and done, however, the Natalian has by no means a cheap breakfast table as far as coffee is concerned, for it is sold at

Is. 3d. per lb. in Durban. In truth, the industry has degenerated into a mere garden hobby, men grow a little coffee for the use of their families. They roast it at home. Coffee walking sticks are in great request, and a limited trade is done in them.

I may add that the growth of tea has also been tried with no good results in Natal.

"THE SWEET CANE FROM A FAR COUNTRY."

"Honey made by the hands of men."-Herodotus.

SUGAR is after all the main stay and strength of the colony of Natal. The industry requires an enormous capital, which is a great drawback to its more complete success. This leads to the baneful system of mortgaging. If any good is to be done, elaborate and expensive machinery is necessary. So far as growing the cane is concerned, there is little or no care required; in earlier days, in fact, the sugar was pressed and dried in a very primitive fashion. But nous avons changé tout cela. The missionaries set the example of establishing central mills at which the cane from a number of small estates could be crushed. The Kaffirs were granted little plots of ground suitable for the growth. of the sugar cane, and were required to bring the produce of the soil to a central mill to be crushed and prepared, by machinery, common to all. Many planters have since copied this sensible plan. To properly start sugar-planting, a capital of at least £15,000 is required. If this capital be the actual property of the grower, and not more or less borrowed, a profit of 15 per cent. may be realised, but when 12 or 13 per cent. is being paid by some growers for money, it is easy to understand how difficult it is to make the thing pay. Then, again, hundreds have been ruined merely for the lack of experience.

Victoria county is the principal seat of the sugar industry, in fact, the whole of the land in the vicinity of the coast is cf that light nature which so well suits the cane. I visited several of these estates, and in order to give some idea of the sugar industry