THE UN MA PPED A RE A S OX THE EA 11 Til \s SURFA CE 257 



theory. It is to be hoped tliat lie or some one equally coniju'- 

 tent will have an opportunity of earrying out an investigation 

 likely to provide results of the highest importance. 



CLIMATK OF THK COIINTKV 



But there are other special ])roblems connected with tins, tlio 

 most backward and the most repellent of continents, wliidi de- 

 mand serious investigation — prol)lems essentially geographical. 

 One of the most important of these, from the point of view of the 

 develoi)ment of Africa, is the problem of accliniati/ation. The 

 matter is of such prime importance that a committee of the Asso- 

 ciation has been at work for some years collecting data a.s to the 

 climate of tropical Africa. In a general way we know that that 

 climate is hot and the rainfall scanty; indeed, even the geogra- 

 ])hers of the ancient world believed that Central Africa was unin- 

 habitable on account of its heat ; but science requires more than 

 generalities, and therefore we look forward to the e.xact results 

 which are being collected by the committee referred to with much 

 hope. We can only go to work experimentally until we know 

 l)recisely what we have to deal witli. It will help us greatly to 

 solve the i)rol)lem of acclimatization when we have the exact fac- 

 tors that go to constitute the climate of tropical Africa. At i)res- 

 ent there is no doubt that the weight of competent opinion — that 

 is, opinion of those who have had actual ex[)erienceof African 

 climate and of those who have made a special study of the etlects 

 of that climate on the human constitution — is that, though white 

 men, if they take due precautions, may live and do certain kinds 

 of work in tropical Africa, it will never be possible to colonize 

 that i)art of the world with ])eople from the temperate zone. Tliis 

 is the lesson taught by generations of experience of Europeans 

 in India. 



So far, also, sad experience has shown that white people can- 

 not hope to settle in Central Africa as they have settled in Can- 

 ada and the United States and in Australia, and make it a nur- 

 sery and a home for new generations. Even in such favorable 

 situations as Blantyre. a lofty region on the south of Lake Nyasa. 

 children cannot be reared beyond a certain age ; they nuist be 

 sent home to England, otherwise they will degenerate physically 

 and morally. No country can ever become the true home of a 

 people if the children have to be sent away to be reared. Still, 

 it is true our experience in Africa is limited. It has been ntain- 

 tained that it might be possible to adapt Europeans to tr(»pical 



