98 MOZAMBIQUE 



natives do not follow the roots down to their 

 extremities, but chops them off when he has dug 

 down about 1 foot, or at most 2 feet. To go farther 

 down he must dig himself a large hole in which to 

 work with his hoe, and this it would not pay him 

 to do ; and as Landolphia, even the degraded type 

 of Mozambique, sends its roots down 5 or 6 

 feet or more, it is manifest that only about one- 

 third of the total quantity of rubber existing in 

 a forest can ever be collected, the use of machinery 

 for this operation being impracticable. The 

 native would be able to work much more rapidly 

 and effectively if provided with a hght mattock 

 instead of his hoe, which is not suited for 

 chopping through roots. A tangle of roots other 

 than those of Landolphia has often to be severed 

 before a hole can be made. 



The forests are in places impenetrable, so the 

 natives do not go far from the paths for their 

 roots; it becomes a necessity, therefore, to cut 

 tracks through the forest to lead them to exploit 

 new regions, the tracks being laid out on a plan 

 to divide up the forest into blocks, so that it may 

 be easily controlled. Shortness of labour is the 

 experience of nearly all big enterprises in East 

 Africa, and the efforts of the management should 

 be directed to making things as easy as possible 

 for the native, especially in rubber-collecting, a 



