BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 293 



usual experience of pioneers ; he was at first un- 

 successful, but now he owns probably half a million 

 of acres, and has mastered the production, not 

 merely of coffee, but of tobacco, sugar, and other 

 things. 



The progress of the country may be judged by 

 the following table :— 



Value. 



Year. Exports. Imports. Total. 



.£ s _ c i_ £ s. d. £ s. d. 



1893 10,201 10 ... 9,147 15 ... 19,349 5 



1894 22,236 10 ... 13,737 10 ... 35,974 



Inc. in 1894 12,035 ... 4,589 15 ... 16,624 15 



As to the future one may only guess, but to my 

 mind there is every reason to expect a continually 

 increasing success. There are probably now at least 

 four hundred Europeans finding a livelihood, and 

 probably many making a fortune, in a country 

 which a very few years ago was harried by slave- 

 dealers and entirely destitute of white men. At 

 present coffee is the main article of export. The 

 prospects appeared to me good. The yield seems 

 to be as heavy, if not better, than that in Ceylon. 

 The low price of land and labour as compared 

 with that country more than counterbalances the 

 slightly higher freight. There are places in 

 British Central Africa where the rainfall is per- 

 haps scarcely sufficient, and, of course, many 

 plantations were formed by people without ex- 



