APPENDIX VI.— ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 521 



Ten British and three other European cargo-boats imported . 5489 tons. 

 Thirty-four Khedivial Company steamers from Suez and Aden 



imported ...... 1642 ., 



One British boat from Cardiff imported coal . . . 4500 ,, 



Italy, like England and unlike France, forbids the importation and sale 

 of fire-arms to natives. 



The total value of the exports for the year 1899 was 1,628,000 francs 

 (equal to about ^65,120). The natural products of the colony are much 

 the same as those of British Somaliland and of the Abyssinian highlands, 

 namely, maize, dhurra, cattle, skins, cotton, and coffee. The latter grows 

 well in several districts of the colony, and has been planted by order of the 

 Government in others, where it is beginning to give good results. Cotton 

 also thrives in several districts ; tobacco has been planted experimentally 

 near Keren, and as it has prospered, plantations will be tried in other 

 districts. The experiments made with the vine and olive have been less 

 successful. It is said that the prospects of gold-mining are promising, but 

 during my short stay I could obtain no definite information on this point. 

 The distance from Massowah to Sahati at the foot of the mountains, being 

 the only portion of the railway opened for traffic in 1900, is 27 kilometres, 

 or 17 miles ; on that from Sahati to Asmara (85 kil. = 53 m.) the Italians 

 are constructing an excellent road, which in 1900 was finished as far as 

 Sabargouma. The distance from Asmara to Adi Quala, the last Italian station 

 before reaching the Abyssinian frontier, is 95 kilometres, or about 60 miles. 

 The boundary here is formed by the river Mareb ; on the coast line the Italian 

 territory extends from Rarat on the north to Raheita on the south, where 

 the French territory commences ; but the southern hinterland of the colony 

 and its boundary line towards the region claimed by France are ill-defined, 

 and may in the near future prove a source of considerable trouble. 



