BARBERTON  , a

town of the Transvaal, 283 M. by rail (175 m. in a direct line) E. of Pretoria and 136 m . W.N.W. of Delagoa Bay . Pop . (1904) 2433, of whom 1214 were whites . Barberton lies 2825 ft. above the sea and is built on the side of a valley named De Kaap, from a bold headland of the Drakensberg which towers above it . The chief town of a district of the same name, it owes its existence to the discovery of gold in the Kaap valley, and dates from 1886 . There are several fine public buildings grouped mainly round President Square . The town is connected with the Lourenco Marques-Pretoria trunk railway by a branch line, 35 M. long,- which runs N.E. through fine mountainous country and joins the main line at Kaapmuiden . During the war of 1899–1902 the Boers were driven out of Barberton (13th of September 1900) by General (afterwards Sir John) French .