300 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



very great pity that the whole future of the natives 

 of British Central Africa should be spoilt by in- 

 troducing this system. 



There is an enormous supply of labour in the 

 Angoni, Awemba and Atonga peoples, which is 

 just coming into training. The relatively small 

 amount available near Blantyre is due to the fact 

 that this was a happy hunting-ground of the slave 

 trader. Moreover, most of those who still live 

 near Blantyre grow maize and produce for sale. 

 An enormous increase is to be looked for in the 

 native population under our settled government. 

 The population in the Ruo district, e.g., increased 

 from 8,000 in 1892 to 13,000 in 1893 ! 



It is possible locusts may interfere with the 

 food supply, for last year there was a severe 

 famine in British Central Africa. They seem to 

 have come from the country between Mwero and 

 Tanganyika, and thence to have travelled over the 

 Stevenson Road and down the Shire. The older 

 natives remember a similar plague as having 

 occurred apparently about 1860, and this leads 

 one to hope that it only happens occasionally. 

 It has been suggested that it was due to the fight- 

 ing on the Congo in 1893, but this can scarcely 

 1)0 the case. More probably it was due to ex- 

 ceptionally favourable, bright, sunny weather in 

 December, 1892, and January, 1893. Dr. Gunther 

 informs me that heat and sunlight are necessary 

 for the eggs to develop. In January, 1894, this 



