ZULULAND
ZU’LULAND. The country lying north-east of the colony of Natal, between its east boundary, the Tugela and Umzimyati rivers, and Delagoa Bay, is generally known under the name of Z., or the Zulu country, inhabited by tribes of Zulu Kaffirs. The great coast chain of mountains, which form in the Cape Colony the Stormbergen, and further to the north-east the Kahlamba and Drachenbergen, still continue well denned to the north-east, running parallel to the coast, but 120 miles distant from it, separating the coast region of Z. from the higher plateaux of the Transvaal, and rising to an average height of 6000 or 7000 feet. East of the Tugela River, the country spreads out into large undulating, grassy plains, but sparsely wooded; while towards the foot of the mountains the kloofs afford some excellent timber. The principal rivers are the Umvoluzi or St. Lucia River, which enters the sea about 80 miles north-east of the Natal frontier; and the Mapoota and its branches, which drain the north part of the region, and fall into Delagoa Bay. The country along the coast between the St. Lucia River and Delagoa Bay is very flat, marshy, and unhealthy. A considerable range of mountains, called the Lebombo, run from the Umvoluzi River almost in a northerly direction to beyond Delagoa Bay, about half way between the coast and the first range we have mentioned, forming a supporting buttress to a plateau of high level, similar to those so common in the Cape Colony and Natal.
This is generally a fertile region, and, as far as the coast-line, is healthy. Sugar, cotton, and other tropical products can be grown as advantageously as in the Natal colony, to which it forms, as it were, an intermediary link between the fever-regions of the east coast and the more healthy climate of Natal and the Cape Colony. The St. Lucia River marks the boundary-line beyond which, to the north-east, Europeans cannot live. Up till the outbreak of the war in 1879, no good map of the Zulu country existed, and even yet, of course, we know very little of its geology or mineral productions. None of the rivers are available for inland navigation, although a large lagoon inside the mouth of the St. Lucia River can be ascended for a few miles. The rivers which flow into Delagoa Bay from the north are sluggish streams, often with no perceptible current, and can be ascended a considerable distance. A large quantity of ivory, rhinoceros’ horns, hides, &c. are collected in this region by traders from Natal; and cattle, Indian corn, &c. thrive well in the country before the swampy region commences. The principal tribes are all of the Zulu race—the Amazulu inhabiting the region bordering on Natal; the Amahute, Amazwazi, &e. the country in the neighborhood of Delagoa Bay. The Portuguese have a very decayed fort and settlement on Delagoa Bay, garrisoned by a few mulatto soldiers, and carrying on some trade with the natives and Dutch Boers in gunpowder, muskets, calico, &c., in exchange for ivory, horns, and other native produce; and a contraband one in slaves Is also, we fear, winked at by the authorities, as captures are often made along tile coast by our cruisers.
The Dutch emigrant Boers, who very much required a port on the sea-board of South-east Africa, would long since have seized on Delagoa Bay, if it were not from a wholesome dread of the very unhealthy climate, which appears to affect those stalwart sons of the highlands of South-east Africa more even than it does Europeans or North Americans.