116 MOZAMBIQUIi 



turned out to be quite unsuitable because, being 

 apparently accustomed to ripen its seed in a dry, 

 hot season, it went on growing through the 

 harvest-time and cotton never got an opportunity 

 to form. Egyptian cotton has also proved a 

 failure in Portuguese East Africa, presumably 

 from the same cause. The country requires a 

 variety that ripens in the cool season. Much is 

 heard of Caravonica, but I never came across any 

 one who had made it pay. One objection to this 

 species is that, occupying the ground for two or 

 three years, vermin have time to breed and 

 accumulate. With Nyassaland long staple rooted 

 out and burnt every year the ground is cleaned. 

 Farther up the coast, within the influence of 

 the monsoon, a sufficiently long, dry season for 

 harvest cannot always be depended upon. This 

 difficulty would also probably prevail in Quelimane, 

 where the rainfall is considerable. In the dry 

 belt of the Mozambique district, on the other 

 hand, which I have described as the region of no 

 running water, the conditions appear to be favour- 

 able for cotton, but the country is in such an 

 undeveloped condition that no private planter is 

 likely to settle there for some time to come. Nor 

 will any company or syndicate be attracted thither 

 unless some special inducements are held out. 

 In German East Africa the Government encourage 



