German East Africa 143 



of coco-nut palms, whilst the Pangani River 

 delta is another producing centre. The rivers 

 Saadani, Kingani, Wami, Rufiji (with the 

 islands of Mafia and Chole), and the towns 

 Kilwa, Lindi, Mikindani and Kionga nearer 

 Cape Delgado, all have their coco-nut estates, 

 forming in the aggregate a considerable and 

 important area. The total number of coco-nut 

 palms in German East Africa may be put at 

 over a couple of millions, which if fully bear- 

 ing mean, at only forty nuts to the trees, 

 80,000,000 nuts in the year. Over 80 per 

 cent, of the holdings are in native hands, with 

 the Arab and Indian owners preponderating. 

 In the old days the coco-nut palm was the 

 principal source of revenue of the slave- 

 holder. After slavery was proscribed and the 

 Arabs lost their grip on the blacks, the estates 

 passed rapidly into the hands of the thrifty 

 traders from Hindustan, in the place of the in- 

 dolent Arab over-lord, who had been satisfied 

 to just sit on his property and let the slaves 

 look after it and get the copra anyhow. 

 There were plenty of European merchants on 

 the spot, even in those days, to purchase it, 

 even if it was- but indifferently prepared, and 

 so long as the Arab master got his share of 

 the dollars he cared but little how it went 

 with his trees. Hence the indifferent reputa- 

 tion which East Coast copra has enjoyed for 

 many years in the past, and which even now 

 remains to it to a great extent, for even the 



