PRODUCTION AND COMMEECE. 139 



and East Africa, wherever the equinoctial rains fall. It 

 is cultivated to some exteat in the Bondei of Usambara, 

 but seems to be the special i^roduct of the Handei district, 

 whence considerable quantities are sent to Pangani for 

 export. Usambara also exports to Zanzibar stiff, thin, 

 round cakes, which have been pounded in wooden mortars, 

 and neatly packed in plaintain-leaves. It is dark and 

 well-flavoured. The Cape of Good Hope, in 1865, had 

 933 morgen (of 2 '116 acres) under tobacco, yielding 

 1,632,746 lb. ; in 1875, 1243 morgen afforded 3,060,241 lb. 

 Tobacco is grown considerably in Oudtshorn and other 

 districts of the Cape Colony, and on the warmer farms in 

 the Transvaal, but to the greatest extent on the coast. 

 The supply is already sufficient for local demands, and 

 tobacco promises to become a staple of South African 

 agricultural industry. 



A recent writer on this portion of the British colonies 

 says, " tobacco, though cultivated as an article of com- 

 merce for export, has not met with much success, as the 

 passion for the weed has become deeply rooted in the 

 natives of the coast and interior, so that it is cultivated 

 by them in many parts of the province for their own con- 

 sumption, and forms a regular article of sale and barter 

 amongst themselves." The tobacco leaf is dried very 

 carelessly by the natives, and is made up in a peculiar 

 way, as follows : — It is first plaited, and when the plait 

 has reached a length of 3-4 feet, it is wound up in the 

 form of a spiral. Gradually drying in this shape, it 

 preserves its form without any binding, and it is unwound 

 and cut off in short pieces when required for use or sale. 

 This mode of preparation is invariable among the Makua 



