The Eastern Congo 



that go out annually for meat and produce, the food supply 

 of the whole of the Katanga being obtained, with few ex- 

 ceptions, from Rhodesia and South Africa. The Lufira 

 and Lufubu Valleys are admirably suited for agriculture 

 and the Manika Plateau is a splendid cattle country free 

 of " fly," with a rich pasture, well-watered and in every 

 way suitable for stock. Moreover, the tsetse fly, where 

 found, does not run in large belts and is on the decrease. 



The fact is the country has not yet been sufficiently 

 advertised. The independent Europeans now to be found 

 there — Greek and Italian traders and Jews of many nation- 

 alities — are the wrong class for agricultural enterprise. These 

 bloodsuckers are engaged in all manner of mining contracts 

 and shady commerce, whereby they fleece both white and 

 black. The best class of settler should be advertised for 

 and given every encouragement by the Government. 



The Comite Special du Katanga grant farms on cheap and 

 easy terms, but so far these have only been taken up by 

 contractors and others as a side-line or place for a country 

 residence. There is a quick fortune to be made near these 

 mines by the hard-working man with a modest capital, either 

 in trading or mixed farming, and both the Union Miniere and 

 the Comite Special will welcome any such and give all the 

 assistance in their power. When I left the district in May, 

 1919, and before the franc went down in value, the following 

 prices ruled in Elisabethville : beef 3f . 50c. per kilo ; mutton 

 5f. ooc. per kilo ; pork 5f. ooc. per kilo ; onions 2f. 50c. per 

 kilo ; potatoes from if. ooc. to 2f. ooc. per kilo ; tomatoes 

 if. 50C. per kilo ; cabbages if. ooc. each ; lemons 50c. 

 each ; pumpkins and vegetable marrows if. ooc. to if. 50c. 

 each ; lettuces four for if. ooc. ; milk if. 50c. per pint 



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