27fl THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



enough to frighten the intended settler, hut rinderpest-. I was 

 assured by the Government expert, was readily held in check 

 by inoculation, whilst, the dreaded East Coast fever is quite 

 easily stopped by dipping the cattle every three days for a 

 period of six months. For an Australian this seems a lot of 

 work, but as a settler with 300 to 4()() head of cattle is looked 

 upon as having a large herd, the dipping takes the native herds- 

 men (who become quite expert at putting the cattle through) 

 from an hour to two hours. One good advance has been the 

 erection of these dips at the various farms. Unfortunately for 

 the employer of native labour, the introduction of so many of 

 the Indian coolies has caused the adoption of their intensely 

 slow methods of working. If a road is being made the material 

 is carried in small baskets, mostly put into basket by hand, and 

 then carried at a very slow walk (about a two miles per hour 

 rate) to its destination. To make the most of the available 

 labour this wants altering, though it will take a strong man 

 to do it, but it would make the labour twice as efficient. Labour 

 is much dearer than formerly, but still ranges from 6 to 8 rupees 

 a month with food (posho), costing, say, 3 rupees average, or 

 well under a pound a month, including food. The hours worked 

 vary a great deal, and one settler gets on with his labour much 

 better than others, but it can be taken as a fact that labour is 

 getting dearer and more difficult each year. At the same time, 

 the better men are becoming more efficient. After all, the 

 natives do not require much money. The young men want 

 sufficient to buy one or two wives — the elder men more wives, 

 so that they can retire from work, and get their shambas (cul- 

 tivated plot) worked by their wives. With most tribes it is the 

 wives who do the heavy work. 



; ' The country, where the elevation is over 5000 ft., is mainly 

 a very healthy one for Europeans, the climate delightful, with 

 very slight variations the whole year round. At the lower 

 levels and in Uganda, of course, fever is prevalent, and the 

 European has to take considerable care to avoid mosquitoes 

 and fly bites, and thus keep as free as possible from malaria. 

 In Uganda, which I did not visit at this time, the prospects are 

 stated to be very great for coffee, rubber, and cocoa, whilst 

 cotton affords a not very high return. To one who is tired of 



