AFRICA-continued.

The Governor may grant leases of Crown lands containing mineral deposits, for such terms as he may direct, at a ground rent of 5s. per morgen, and a royalty not exceeding 10s. per ton of ore raised.

The prospecting licenses do not give any right to prospect on private property without the consent of the owner of such property, and the person prospecting has in any case to give security to make good surface damage. The Proclamation only applies to gold, silver, and platinum. As regards precious stones, Division I. of Act No. 19 of the Cape of Good Hope (of 1883) is in force throughout British Bechuanaland. -(See Proclamation, 63 B.B. 1889, above referred to.)

By the Proclamation of 1891 above referred to, the 71st and 72nd sections of the Proclamation of 1889 above referred to are repealed, and it is provided that if before the expiration of three months from the date of a written. request to the Governor, setting forth that precious minerals have been found in payable quantities, signed by the owner of land in which the precious stones

AFRICA-continued.

and minerals have been reserved to the Crown, or his agent, or by any prospector duly licensed to prospect on such land, and asking that the said land shall be proclaimed a mining area, the Governor shall not proclaim such area, the owner of the land or his agent (subject to the rights of any prospector under section 41 of the Proclamation of 1889 above referred to) shall be entitled to receive a mining right lease of such land for not less than five or more than twenty years, at an annual rent of 10s. per morgen, subject to conditions as to keeping proper accounts of finds, and to the option of the Governor to demand 24 per cent. on the value of finds instead of the rent of 10s. per morgen, and to such other conditions as the Governor may deem necessary or convenient.

If the land, together with the rights of the owner in respect of precious minerals, has been leased by duly registered lease, the lessee, instead of the owner, has the right to receive such mining right lease as aforesaid.

Remarks

"Native chiefs may make laws regulating

mines and mining for

Traces of
iron
Lead
Copper

Silver-
lead, &c.

In the case of
lands granted
before 1887, in
surface-owner; in
the case of lands
granted since that
date, in Crown

gold and other mine-
rals."
(Gold Coast
Colonies Ordinance
No. 5 of 1883.)

There do not appear to
be any special mining
laws or regulations for
Mauritius.

By the (Natal) Act 17 of 1887, called The Natal Mines Act 1886, the right of mining for and disposing of all gold, precious stones and precious metals, and all other minerals in the Colony is thereby vested in the Crown, subject to the provisions of that Act, but the Act is not to affect rights previously acquired.

AFRICA-continued.

The Natal Act 17 of 1887 has been repealed by the Natal Mines Law, 1888 (No. 34 of 1888), but the provisions above referred to are re-enacted. Mineral leases may be granted by the Governor to any licensed person of any unalienated Crown lands for mining purposes (s. 22), and the Commissioner of Mines or other person appointed for the purpose may, on giving the prescribed notice, enter on private lands for the purpose of prospecting or boring for coal, making compensation to the owner or occupier of any such lands for any damages thereby occasioned, the amount of such compensation to be decided by the resident magistrate of the county or division (s. 30). The owner of any land on which coal is discovered may dig for, mine for, and dispose of such coal; or may grant leases to any person or persons for the purpose of mining for or disposal of such coal (s. 31). The owner has also the right to mine for gold or other precious metals or minerals on his land or to give permission for others to do so (s. 38), but if he neglects to do so the Commissioner of Mines may issue prospecting licenses for other persons to do so (s. 40). The owner of any land which has been proclaimed a public gold field has precedence in choice of claims, and one-half of the license-fees paid by other parties is to be paid over to him (s. 56). Discoverers of gold have also special privileges (s. 54). A royalty is payable to the Government in respect to all gold, silver, and precious stones found on any land not being a proclaimed gold field on gold of 1s. 6d. an ounce, silver 1s. per ounce, diamonds 2 per cent. ad val. (s. 64). On the proclaimed gold fields diggers must take out licenses of 10s. a month for each claim (s. 13). A prospector's license costs 10s. for every six months, and no one may search for gold or precious. stones or metals or other minerals on Crown lands without such a license (s. 3).

Under the provisions of a law (N.S. No. 11, 1881), townships may be proclaimed in Natal with power for the Local Boards of such townships to acquire and hold lands, and to lease any portion of such lands by public competition for building for any period not exceeding fifty years, and for any other purposes for any period not exceeding twenty-one years. Under this Act the town of Newcastle was, in 1882, proclaimed a township, and the Local Board (since converted into a Town Council) of such township in 1889 and 1890 leased the right of mining for coal on portions of the town lands to certain persons for the period of twenty-one years. It has since been found that the development of the coal mines on the town lands was being retarded in consequence of the inability of the Town Council to give the lessees the option of renewal of their leases, and accordingly an Act has been recently passed (N.S. No. 8 of 1893) empowering the Town Council of Newcastle to grant to the lessees of the said coal mines the option of renewing their leases for further periods of twenty-one years, the rentals during the period of renewal being fixed, in default of agreement, by arbitration.

THE CHARTERED COMPANIES OF AFRICA.

Three important Associations have lately been incorporated by Royal Charter, and entrusted with powers of government or administration over large portions of Africa which had previously been declared to be "within the sphere of British influence," or over which a British protectorate had been established; and although the possessions of these Companies may not strictly come within the ordinary meaning of the term "English Colonies," it is proposed to treat them as such for the purpose of these notes, which would manifestly be incomplete without some reference to the land and mineral regulations of Companies to which has been entrusted the development of districts in Africa believed to be possessed of enormous mineral wealth.

The following are the Chartered Companies of Africa, viz. :-
The Royal Niger Company, incorporated in 1886.

The Imperial British East Africa Company, incorporated
in 1888.

The British South Africa Company, incorporated in 1889. Besides these Chartered Companies and the Colonies proper of Africa, the British Government has assumed the following Protectorates, viz. :—

The Oils River Protectorate, over the basin of the lower and middle Niger.

The Zanzibar Protectorate.

The Somali Coast Protectorate, including the island of Socotra and other dependencies under the Aden residency.

AFRICA-continued.

The charters appear to have been framed to a great extent on the precedent of the charter granted to the British North Borneo Company. The following short summary of the charter granted to the British South Africa Company1 by H.M.'s Letters Patent dated October 29, 1889, will serve to give some idea of the legal status of these Chartered Companies.

By this charter, the Company is incorporated for the purpose of carrying into effect certain concessions or agreements made by some of the chiefs and tribes inhabiting the region of South Africa lying to the north of British Bechuanaland and to the north and west of the South African Republic, and to the west of the Portuguese dominions.

The Company is authorised (subject to the approval of a Secretary of State) to acquire by any concession, agreement, grant or treaty, any rights, interests, and powers for the purpose of government and preservation of public order in the lands or property comprised in the concessions and agreements aforesaid, or other lands or property in South Africa.

The Company is to remain British in character and domicile, and provisions are made saving certain interests previously acquired, and giving the Secretary of State power to restrain the acts of the Company if they appear to him to be contrary to public interests.

Power is given to the Company to enact ordinances (to be approved by the Secretary of State) and to establish and maintain a police force. Provisions are also made for the protection of the natives and for the regulation of the Company, and amongst other powers given to the Company is a power to carry on mining and other industries, and to make concessions of mining, forestal, or other rights.

Provision is also made for the execution of a deed of settlement (subject to the approval of H.M.'s Council) defining the constitution of the Company.

Power is reserved to Her Majesty at the end of 25 years, and at the end of every subsequent ten years, to repeal or vary any of the provisions of the charter relating to administrative and public matters. Power is also reserved to declare protectorates over or to annex any territory, and even to revoke the charter, if at any time it shall appear to the Crown that the Company is not acting

The magnitude of these Companies' undertakings is illustrated by the British South Africa Company's Report for 1892, according to which "the Company's field of operations under the British flag covers about 750,000 square miles, an area exceeding that of France, Germany, Austria, and Italy combined."