372 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA part in 



Kilima Njaro shows that it is endemic there at the height of 

 over 7000 feet. 



That the whole of Equatorial Africa is to be lightly dis- 

 missed as uninhabitable appears to me to be absurd. Dis- 

 cussions as to whether European colonists can settle and live 

 there are now purely academic. The fact has been finally 

 proved by the success of Blantyre in Nyasaland, where a colony 

 of Scotch planters has founded a number of coffee plantations, 

 which are in a most flourishing condition. We need only refer 

 to that bright little journal, the British. Central Africa Gazette, 

 look through its columns of advertisements, and read the reports 

 of its cricket matches and tennis parties, to realise how well the 

 district must be adapted to the needs of a British settlement. 

 As the colony, moreover, rests on an agricultural and not on a 

 mining basis, its permanence seems assured. Granting, then, 

 that with proper precautions and the exercise of greater care 

 in the selection of sites for stations, Europeans can live in 

 Equatorial Africa, the question remains whether there will be 

 sufficient temptation to them to do so in large numbers. 



The answer to this depends in the first place on the possible 

 resources of the country, and in the second on the existence of 

 an adequate supply of native labour. In discussing this sub- 

 ject East Africa is frequently compared with India, but the 

 countries are so absolutely different that the comparison is 

 useless. India has always teemed with inhabitants, most of 

 whom are peaceful, industrious, and skilful, while in point of 

 civilisation they stand nearer to the European than to the 

 African. India has always been a country rich enough to 

 tempt foreigners to enter it for loot, and has maintained many 

 native arts and industries. When Englishmen went to India 

 they found there an established civilisation, abundant agricul- 

 tural and mineral resources, and an unlimited supply of cheap 

 labour. The country only needed pacification and organisation. 



Eastern Equatorial Africa, on the other hand, is poor, the 

 population is thin, the natives are generally on the verge of 

 starvation, and for the most part ignorant and indolent. The 

 only district which can at all compare with India is Uganda, 

 and the higher civilisation and greater intelligence of its people 

 are due to the infusion of Hamitic blood. Uganda, however, 

 is only a small area, and its power was on the wane and its 



