Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

158 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. They could not understand by what means the trains travelled along. The only method of transport known to the simple-minded tribes of Central Africa was teams of oxen. It is recorded that, when the first train passed the Falls on the journey northwards, a large number of natives assembled at one of the stations to stare at the boiler and watch the animals come out of it! It took some time to convince them that there was not a large train of oxen hidden away somewhere, and that the engine was merely driven by the action of fire on water. To-day, how- ever, they have become much more sophisti- cated, and regard the arrival and departure of the trains with in- difference. Another difficulty that Mr. Rhodes was warned would trouble him when he came to build his railway across Africa was the lack of sufficient native labour. The ever-present diffi- culty of providing sufficient Kaffirs for work in the mines of Johannesburg The Labour . tz-* i i ji „ and Kimberley, and the even Question. J greater scarcity of labour in the Rhodesian mines, was used in support of this argument. Mr. Rhodes believed, however, that this was by no means an insoluble problem, and experience has justi- fied his belief. Such labour troubles as have occurred along the line have been quite un- A STRETCH OF LINE NORTH OF THE VICTORIA FALLS. important and purely local in their effects. The explanation of this satisfactory condition of things appears to be that the natives would much rather labour on a railway running over the surface of the land than delve in mines beneath. Those who have studied most closely the labour question of South Africa are con- vinced that it is the dislike, and even the fear, of the natives for working underground that is responsible for a great deal of the scarcity of Kaffir labour of which one hears so much from time to time. When the Zambesi had been crossed, the natives showed great willing- ness, and even eager- ness, to take part in the work of construc- tion ; and while making the survey for the sec- tion of the line north, of its present terminus at the Broken Hill Mine, Sir Charles Met- calfe found the natives of superior physique and intelligence, and apparently eager to ob- tain work on the line. So far the revenue earned by the sections of the line opened for traffic has been satis- factory and quite up to expectations. For the year ending Sep- tember 30,1907,204,725 passengers were carried on the “Cape to Cairo” line and its branches ; while for the year ending September Traffic J ° x Returns 30, 1908, the number had risen to 235,772. The value of goods and mineral traffic during the first period was £325,116, and during the second £331,915 (approxi- mately). Whether this condition of affairs will continue to prevail as the line is carried further forward remains to be seen. Three years ago the late Mr. Alfred Beit left a million pounds sterling for the develop- ment and extension of the “ Cape to Cairo ” Railway, of which he was one of th© earliest,