Special Problems in Transportation 
231 
South African ports., Durban and Cape Town are the ports of the 
region that contains the Kimberley diamond mines and the gold mines 
about Johannesburg, both of which are the richest of their kind in the 
world. Nearly $50,000,000 worth of diamonds and $200,000,000 
worth of gold are exported yearly. 
24. If a ton of gold is worth $500,000, how many tons of freight would this 
yearly production make » 
South Africa also produces for export wool which is sometimes worth 
over $50,000,000 per year; ostrich feathers, $15,000.000: hides and 
skins, $20,000,000; and coal, $7,000,000. 
25. Arrange the chief South African products in the probable order of their 
value to the railroads and steamship companies as sources of revenue. 
26. What four of these products reach the United States in good quantities? 
What two probably reach your own locality ? 
If the whole of South Africa were a desert, why would Cape Town still 
have some importance ? 
28. Would Cape Town and Alexandria be different from what they now 
are, if the Suez Canal had never been dug? In what respects? 
29. What kind of machinery does the United States probably send to Durban 
and Cape Town ? 
30. In what respect has Cape Town the same advantage as Ottawa ? 
The railroad penetration northward. A railroad extends north- 
ward from Cape Town for more than two thousand miles, to the in- 
terior of Belgian Congo, near Lake Tanganyika. This is part of the 
Cape-to-Cairo railway which has been the desire of the British colo- 
nies in Africa for many years. It will have many branch lines run- 
ning to ports on the east coast. Some day it will presumably carry 
plantation products, such as tea, coffee, sugar, cocoa, and palm oil ; 
but now the interior of tropical Africa yields little except hides, ivory, 
gums, copper, and some gold and tin. 
31. What ports are now reached by branches of the Cape-to-Cairo railway ? 
32. What great river has been bridged to carry the railroad north? 
33. Through what political divisions may a Cape-to-Cairo railway run? 
Are these divisions independent, or are they under European control ? 
Map exercise. Practice making a sketch map of Africa, showing the 
location of every port with a population of more than 50,000. At 
first have a map before you as you sketch. After a few trials, try to do 
all the work from memory in five minutes. 
Interior centers of Africa. Although Africa has several great riv- 
ers. there are few settlements of any size along them. Omdurman and 
24.