THE COUNTRY 335 



future, by science, diminished or controlled ? Can fever and 

 unknown diseases be overcome ? Can native tribes that by 

 long custom have entrenched themselves in habits of wander- 

 ing and idleness be so educated, so firmly and wisely ruled, 

 that these predispositions of theirs can be overcome and 

 that they shall be taught to work with and under the white 

 settler. 



Only to name these, and they are but a few of the African 

 problems, is enough to indicate the gravity of the situation. 



On the other hand, much of East Africa is extraordin- 

 arily fertile if Uganda is included on our survey. It is 

 impossible at present to state what immense products of 

 food and raw material the soil can yield. Nowhere has it 

 been more than scratched in isolated patches here and there. 

 If the food-producing capacities of the East, of India and 

 China has been pretty well reached already, then it is an 

 asset that could greatly add to their store. Many millions 

 might be fed by grains and fruit raised in that rich land lying 

 between the Nile Valley and the Eastern sea. It would 

 seem that from an agricultural point alone the country is 

 worth holding. If it is to be held, it must be studied, de- 

 veloped, ruled. A beginning is being made in the first. 

 Some excellent scientific men are now at work searching into 

 the problems presented by its diseases in man and beast, its 

 capacities for producing grain and fruit, cotton, fibre, etc., 

 etc., but their present equipment is very inadequate. 



As to its development, the real and pressing need of some 

 real policy is apparent. There has as yet been no extensive 

 survey made of lands opened to immigrants. Immigration 

 has been invited, but when newcomers arrive nothing is 

 ready for them. They have been told to go on to the country 

 and look out locations for themselves. When at last these 

 have been chosen, they find their intended homesteads lie 

 within some native or government reserve, and all they have 

 done has to be done over again. I have known men to be 



