240 THE DIAMOND MINES OF SOUTH AFRICA That this annexation has been, and will be, greatly to the advantage of the territory and its occupants will not be seriously questioned. Its material advance and the security to life and property stand already in bright contrast to its barbaric state — a land which knew only the rudest tillage and was ravaged at the whim of savage chiefs. It is too early yet to think of meas­uring its resources and probable advances, but enough is known to warrant high confidence in its future, with the assurance of alert grasp of its openings for immigration and capital.
	To any eye the gaining of Rhodesia was a long step forward toward the attainment of Rhodes's hope of carrying British dominion from the Cape to Cairo. But the ordinary observer would not mark, as intently as Rhodes did, the force of this acquisition in determining the control of South Africa. Seven­teen years ago, in addressing his constituents, at Barkly West, he declared publicly, as a settled conviction: "I came to the conclusion that the key to the (South African) puzzle lay in the possession of the Interior, at that time an unknown quantity. In a humble way I have been mixed up with the politics of the