November 22, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



34-5^ 



fact that the African cow-elephant carries tusks renders her, even 

 in the eyes of European sportsmen, a legitimate prey, and the en- 

 hanced value of cow-ivory compensates for the lesser weight of her 

 tusks as compared with the bull. Once more we would urge that 

 the utmost endeavor be made to check this reckless slaughter. 

 The writer has had charge of close on sixty government elephants 

 in India for some considerable time, and again in Burmah, and 

 may therefore claim, perhaps, to speak from some personal experi- 

 ence of the great services this animal, when domesticated, is capa- 

 ble of rendering. In a country where the horse, the ass, and the 

 bullock — the two former imported at almost prohibitive expense 

 — are all subject to destruction by the tsetse-fly, as well as the 

 numerous diseases peculiar to a tropical country, the elephant, if 

 domesticated, would be simply invaluable as a transport animal. 



Second only, indeed, to the discovery of a payable export, is an 

 efficient .means of transport, to replace the slave-labor of the Arabs, 

 and the expensive and unsatisfactory porterage which the white 

 man has at present to employ. Of other products which, after 

 development, would form payable exports, the most important is 

 perhaps coffee. The coffee-shrub is, we believe, indigenous on the 

 Zambezi. On the Shire highlands it has been cultivated with the 

 greatest success by Messrs. Buchanan at Lomba, the Lakes Com- 

 pany at Mandala, and the Mission at Blantyre. At these places 

 very large areas are now planted with fine healthy coffee-shrubs, 

 bearing well. Tea, we believe, has been lately experimented with, 

 but so far we are unable to say with what result, though from the 

 analogy of India we should predict a success. Cloves and cinchona- 

 bark should also do well. All these, being of small bulk in com- 

 parison to their value, should be lucrative articles of export, and 

 should grow equally well on the highlands between Nyassa and 

 Tanganyika on the north, and Bangweolo and Moero on the west. 

 From the lowlands we may add rubber as a payable export. Sev- 

 eral kinds of rubber-vine grow profusely at the north of the lake. 

 At present this trade is completely untouched. 



In addition to these primary products, which need time for their 

 development, there are a large number of minor ones, which, though 

 we think that they would not in themselves offer adequate returns 

 for money invested, would nevertheless materially lessen the initial 

 expenses. The conveyance of European supplies, porters, arms 

 and ammunition, building and other material to the north of the 

 lake (at which place we would advocate a considerable depot)', to- 

 gether with the ordinary mission carrying-trade, will necessitate 

 the steamers going northwards with full cargoes. On their return 

 journeys they could be loaded with some of the secondary, less 

 valuable, and more bulky products which we are about to enum- 

 erate. 



But, in our opinion, most of these are more valuable for local use 

 and manufacture than for export, and by means of such an applica- 

 tion of indigenous products the cost of stations in the interior 

 might be largely reduced by the reduction of European supplies at 

 present necessarily imported. A favorable instance of such is the 

 Misanguti tree. This most picturesque of trees produces an in- 

 credible number of fig-shaped fruit-pods, each of which contains 

 from four to six scarlet beans, and each bean is saturated with oil. 

 They are used by the natives for food ; and the oil, too, is extracted 

 by boiling. When cool, this oil or fat is solid, even at a tolerably 

 high temperature, and has the appearance of beeswax. It burns 

 well as a night-light, and, mixed with beeswax (an easily obtainable 

 local product), would have sufficient consistency to make candles, 

 and thus save one article of present import. We believe, also, that 

 it would make excellent soap ; and it is not expecting much to 

 assume that the potash and alkalies for this manufacture could be 

 locally found. A certain quantity, indeed, could be obtained from 

 the large quantities of wood-ash produced by the steamer-fuel. 

 This would not only save the import of soap for consumption, but 

 might even supply one of the staple articles of barter. The Mis- 

 anguti, moreover, supplies from its bark a capital mahogany dye ; 

 and from the fact that the natives use it to dye their fishing-nets, 

 and from the oily properties of the tree, it is presumable that it has 

 very highly preservative properties. The wood of this tree is hard 

 and valuable, and, as far as we could judge, its presence and shade 

 were not injurious to vegetation, so that it might be largely culti- 

 vated in areas devoted to cereal crops. Lastly, we would suggest 



the experiment of an oil-cake made from its beans as a food foir 

 cattle and asses. 



Another product of the country, at present almost wholly neglected',, 

 is hides. The Wa-Mambwa, Wa-nkande, and Angoni tribes possess- 

 enormous herds of cattle, and, e.xcept for the making of war-shieldsr 

 the hides of these are little used. The hides of the buffalo, of 

 which there are thousands in the plains at the north of the lake, being 

 too heavy for this purpose, are entirely wasted. The great bulk oi 

 raw hides prohibits their export on the present small steamer, and 

 would at any time be a serious detraction from their value as art 

 export at such a distance from the coast. To obviate this, we 

 would advocate the formation of crude tanning-pits, with the ob- 

 ject of removing such portions as are unnecessary, and of softening 

 the hides sufficiently to make them packable into a smaller bulk. 

 One of the commonest trees in that district is the thorny acacia, 

 called in India the Babul, in which country its roots and bark are 

 largely used for tanning purposes. The forest, too, abounds with- 

 astringent fruits and berries ; such as the Owlah (dear to sports- 

 men), and others of whose names we are ignorant. The collection 

 and preparation of these hides would afford employment to those 

 in inland stations ; and these semi-tanned hides would largely 

 assist in meeting local necessaries, such as camp-beds, tenting, or 

 taking, in fact, to some extent, the place of waterproof sheeting.- 

 There are, moreover, many kinds of oil-seeds (such as the ground- 

 nuts, etc.) and of dyes which would supply the return cargo for 

 steamers. Of other European necessities, sugar is already manu-- 

 factured at Lomba by Messrs. Buchanan, and its quality is impFov- 

 ing yearly. Wheat, linseed, flax, cotton, and perhaps indigo, we 

 think, could be grown on the highlands, and a fair substitute ca» 

 be made for wheat-flour from the local grains. Of tea and coffee 

 we have already spoken. Opium has been successfully cultivated 

 at Mopea on the Kwakwa for many years, and under Mr. Addi- 

 son's energetic management and improved methods the company 

 has lately renewed its vitality. Butter and cheese can be made for 

 local consumption in the cattle-producing districts. At present 

 these European necessities are imported. Another valuable secon- 

 dary product is fibre. From the coir fibre of the Borassus palm, to- 

 the soft down of the cotton-tree, the land produces endless fibre. 



Acres, nay forests, of plantain surround every Nkonde village, - 

 and the plantain fibre rots on the ground. From this, and from. 

 the bark of various trees, the natives are very clever at making rope- 

 of every size, from twine to a cable, which they call jnatusi ; but 

 being prepared green, and without the fibre being properly sepa- 

 rated and interwoven, it becomes brittle when dry, and does not 

 last long. They make also baskets and very superior mats of 

 plantain-fibre. There is, however, a species of hemp which grows 

 very freely, and of which I am informed the fibre is singularly 

 tough, which might form a valuable article of export in the form of 

 tow. Doubtless investigation may bring to light many valuable 

 drugs (the Strophanthos proved an El Dorado till the market was- 

 glutted); while among the many lovely plants (the wild gladioli and 

 other bulbs, the gardenia-like flowering shrubs, the tree orchids 

 and the ferns) many species may command a sale in the British 

 market, and help to make capital, while the more extended schemes 

 which are to produce the dividends of the future are being de- 

 veloped. 



The timber on the highlands is small and of no great value ; but" 

 in the lowlands there are several kinds of valuable timber-trees in- 

 digenous to the country, while ebony and other ornamental woods 

 are, we believe, found on the Shire. Many kinds of imported trees 

 thrive excellently both on the highlands and at the level of the lake. 

 Of these, the mango is doing well at Bandawe, and has grown for 

 very many years on the Zambezi, imported by the Portuguese 

 Jesuits: it is valuable both for its fruit and timber. The Neem, 

 valuable for its oil and the medicinal properties of its bitter leaves, 

 the blue gum and other eucalypti, the Gold Mohur tree, orange, 

 lemon, and loquotz, also grow well, and prove that other trees 

 growing in the same latitude and at the same altitude as those do- 

 in India would also thrive in Africa. Of such, the two great tim- 

 ber-trees, the teak and the Sal, would be worth introduction, as 

 also the useful Mohwa tree; while, by the analogy of India, the 

 oak and other timber-trees of England should do well on the 

 higher plateaus. , 



