Abstract
IT will be admitted that the Administration of Southern Rhodesia acted wisely in accepting the timely counsel which Sir David Gill brought under its consideration. Some ten years ago His Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape pointed out to Lord Grey, who then administered the government of the colony, the desirability of basing the land tenure on a properly established system of survey. The adoption of such a course would not only afford the means of supplying a sound and incontrovertible evidence of title to the possessor, but would protect the Government against the perpetration of fraud and tend to diminish future litigation. Sir David Gill does not hesitate to say that in Cape Colony large tracts of land have been stolen from the Government, either through the wilful shifting of beacon marks or from carelessness due to inadequate surveying. Sir David Gill did not lay any great stress upon the scientific value that necessarily attaches to accurate measurement conducted on a large scale; but this point was not neglected, and the work was planned so as to give the greatest assistance to economic requirements, and at the same time to forward scientific interests. The one purpose was effected by carrying a chain of triangles east-wards from Bulawayo, covering the most thickly populated and important parts of the country, the other by extending the chain north and south along the thirtieth meridian, so that it might form part. of the great arc of meridian which it is proposed to extend from the south of Natal to the Mediterranean. The actual district surveyed extends from about 16° to 20° south latitude and from 28° to 31° east longitude.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
P., W. Geodetic Operations in South Africa . Nature 74, 554 (1906). https://doi.org/10.1038/074554a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/074554a0