What was the available transport to Kimberley in 1871?
score:3
I agree with the comment of @sempaiscuba
Kimberley
In 1871 there we no railways to Kimberley. The town of Kimberley was established in 1878. It become part of the Cape Colony in 1880. The railway to Kimberley was only completed in 1885. I assume the planning of the railway started shortly after the diamonds were discovered there in 1871. (Kimberley history)
Bloemfontein
The nearest large town/city is Bloemfontein. That is about 150 kilometers away if you walked. With that being said the railway to Bloemfontein was only completed in 1889. I believe that the railway to Kimberley was of greater importance than the one to Bloemfontein. Also important to note that Kimberley was part of the Cape Colony and Bloemfontein was part of the Orange Free State. Kimberley was under British rule and the Free State was an independent republic. (Bloemfontein railway) (Colonial history Bloemfontein)
Travel times
King William's Town is about 550 kilometers from Kimberley if you walk. Depending on rivers and mountain ranges this could be closer to 650km. For a miner to travel form King William's Town to Kimberley could easily take more than a month (this is under the assumption that someone can travel 15km by foot per day).
The chances of a miner having an ox-cart would have been very small given their living standard. If they were lucky enough to have a horse this journey could be shortened by about two weeks (assuming that a person can travel 35km per on a horse). (Travel times)
Challenges
It is important to bear in mind that the miner would have the Orange river among other rivers to cross. There might have been some bridges, but these would be far apart. Other challenges include the scarcity of water. While there would be small towns on the way to Kimberley, there would probably not be a lot of water in between apart from a few rivers. This is especially true the closer you get to Kimberley. The landscape close to Kimberley is considered by many South Africans as semi-desert.
Other options could include taking a coach for Port Elizabeth, but I doubt that any miner would be able to afford it. These miners often went away from home in order to make money that they could take back home to care and provide for their families.
More post
- 📝 Columbus 1492 - how many years for news to reach all Europe (including Ottoman empire)?
- 📝 What was located at the site of Madison Square Garden in 1850?
- 📝 Why was China not colonized by any country?
- 📝 Why hasn't the Centralia fire been starved to death?
- 📝 Did Herman Melville help write his uncle's book?
- 📝 About the use of the arrow shaped tool in archaological digs
- 📝 Why were penal colony members from Australia moved to San Francisco in 1840's?
- 📝 Who said "against the soul, lies; against the body, violence" and where?
- 📝 Why did the the East-Pakistanis oppose Urdu as their national language while Indians accepted Hindi as theirs?
- 📝 What was the logic behind Stalin's brutality?
- 📝 Could the Germans have "sealed off" the Sea of Azov in World War II?
- 📝 Why are Vikings singled out for raids in Britain and Ireland when records may indicate most raids were by local rulers?
- 📝 Are Luther and Calvin responsible for executing more humans than the Catholic Inquisition?
- 📝 What is a difference between the revolution in Egypt that sprung recently and the Russian Revolution of 1917
- 📝 Did civilian cold war bunkers plan for inclusion of family pets?
- 📝 Did Truman threaten a nuclear strike if the Soviet Union didn't withdraw from Iran in 1946?
- 📝 Was "Street" more common than the abbreviated "St." in pre-1910 American newspapers?
- 📝 What is the manifestation of the Holy Roman Emperor reign in Italy?
- 📝 How reliable is a Maya codex facsimile?
- 📝 How did Japan successfully conquer Vietnam (Southeast Asia) in WW2?
- 📝 How historically accurate is 'India: A History' by John Keay?
- 📝 How did Hitler get off so lightly after the Beer Hall Putsch?
- 📝 Was it common practice for men to kiss on the lips in 1920s USA?
- 📝 What did it mean to be a Grecian in late-18th Century British schools?
- 📝 How did Lincoln know to stick with Grant before the completion of the Vicksburg campaign?
- 📝 What island in the Caspian sea did Ala Ad-Din Muhammad die on, after escaping Genghis Khan?
- 📝 Why did Syria intervene in favour of the Maronites during the Lebanese Civil War?
- 📝 How low on ammunition were the Germans at Stalingrad when they surrendered?
- 📝 What does WW2 US Army discharge code W.D. CIR 395, 1942 mean?
- 📝 Why did Nazis flee to South America?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was the available transport to Kimberley in 1871?
- 📝 What was the lowest available population to the Soviet Union in WW2?
- 📝 What was the available level of agricultural technology in late 2nd century China?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 What was the historical context of the 2nd amendment to the US Constitution?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the typical peasant's diet like in Europe during the High Middle Ages?
- 📝 What led some people to (correctly) believe that there was no land under the ice cap at the North Pole?
- 📝 What was the status of Arab Christians during the crusades?
- 📝 What was the religion of the Arabic people before conversion to Islam?
- 📝 What was the purpose of Nazi extermination camps?
- 📝 What was the internal Soviet reaction to the moon landing?
- 📝 What was the function of the walls of Jericho?
- 📝 What was the pound (unit of weight) initially equal to?
- 📝 At what point was the Byzantine Empire's decline irreversible?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 What was the point of horse armour?
- 📝 What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?
- 📝 What was the role of the Soviet Navy during WWII?
- 📝 What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the average height of Roman men and women?
- 📝 What was the longest a World War II submarine stayed at sea without being resupplied at a port?
- 📝 What was the cleanest war ever fought?
- 📝 What was the Seven Years War called at first?
- 📝 What was the first battle in history fought by vast-majority-% "distance-shooting" non-mechanized force?
- 📝 What / When was the first use of concentration camps in history?
- 📝 What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on Eastern front during different stages of the war?
- 📝 What was the planned line of succession for the Nazi Party in the event that Hitler died?