T

he City of-

Fl ETERW ARITZ BURG

Altitude Distance

2218 feet 71 miles

CHAPTER VI

HE capital of the Province was laid out in the year 1839 by the Dutch voortrekkers from the Cape, and was named from two of their leaders, Pieter Retief and Gert Maritz. The sturdy pioneers had suffered mueh sinee they had brought their wagons down the passes of the Berg into " the meadow of Natal."

From the " Story of a South African City" (J. F. Ingram) we gather that the Settlement of Maritzburg consisted of six small hovels and many wagons and tents ; that in the beginning of 1839 a Volksraad, or Council of the people, was eleeted, and that on the 15th of February of the same year, the town was officially named Pietermaritz- burg. The natives name it " Umgungunhlovu," from the ancient seat of Government of the Zulus on the White Umfolosi River.

Such, then, was the founding of the capital of Natal.

MARITZBURG, as it is usually called, enjoys an altitude of 2,218 feet above the sea level. It lies in a leafy hollow, and is commanded by hüls on every side. Two small but pretty rivers, the Umsindusi and Dorp Spruit, embrace the town and are strongly bridged.

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