“ASOL +] Matabeleland.—Facts and Figures. 19 
the rainy season, one expects to find fever in every new country, 
but houses built a few hundred feet above the river avoid any such 
danger.” 
Let us hear what the same gentleman says about the fertility of 
the country : “The Matabele corn-land principally lies in the district 
embraced by the map accompanying this paper, and when the clouds 
begin to bank they begin to pick, for as yet the king sets his face 
against ploughs. Sowing goes on in October and November, and 
after the first rains it is marvellous the rapidity with which the grass 
and the corn grow. The russet-brown country changes suddenly 
to an emerald green, and the grassland, which is good and abundant, 
and forests are ablaze with flowers of every hue. Those so soon 
to have farms up there will assuredly choose this season when wishing 
to effect a land sale. Harvesting goes on in May-and June, and 
- much of the corn is soon turned into Kaffir beer, the national drink, 
while a good deal is traded for coloured cotton and beads. Kaffir 
corn was traded last year for five shillings’ worth of goods per sack, 
but mealies were more difficult to buy. There is a great future in 
the corn as also in the cattle trade for this country. As I have 
mentioned, during the winter, or dry season, the cattle are sent off 
the plateau down the rivers, as higher up the water only remains 
in pools, the rains being so heavy that they run off quickly into deep 
channels; but by judicious storage of this rain supply vast tracts 
-might be irrigated, while springs are numerous and only want opening 
-up. In the Gu-Bulawayo district the soil is very deep and rich. 
Anything and everything seems to grow and flourish. At Shiloh, 
where Mr. Thomas, a missionary, now dead, laid on water from a 
spring and made a garden,. I reaped and thrashed out several sacks 
-of excellent English wheat. I planted potatoes too, which gave 
a very excellent crop. Cabbages, carrots, onions, marrows, beans, 
peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce also thrive well. In fact all 
European vegetables, as well as sweet potatoes and mealies, grew 
‘very quickly in this irrigated ground. The rivers are generally in 
beds too deep to run the water off, except at great expense; but 
windmill pumps, nuriyas and dams could be utilised. With the aid 
of water, almost any fruit seems to flourish. From the same garden, 
we enjoyed large crops of oranges, lemons, figs, grapes, bananas 
(or rather plantains), peaches, apricots, pomegranates, mulberries 
_and Cape gooseberries. The date-palms and apple-trees, though 
:growing well, were too young to bear. The orange and lemon trees 
