128 THE PRAZOES 



ridges in which the sugar-cane is planted. The 

 undertaking is thus rendered practically inde- 

 pendent of rainfall, which in this part of the 

 Zambezi is singularly variable. 



But with all the advantages to be derived 

 from these modern and up-to-date labour-saving 

 machinery and appliances, the number of natives 

 for which employment is furnished by the sugar 

 plantations of the Zambezi is very large. More 

 are of course required during the winter season for 

 the clearing of ground and the work of irrigation 

 than during the rains ; thus in the period from July 

 to October 1906, the company we are considering 

 employed per month an average of 1,443 adult 

 natives, and paid out for wages and food for their 

 workers from July 1, 1906, to June 30, 1907, the 

 not inconsiderable sums respectively of £9,500 

 and £4,200. 



The Mozambique Sugar Company possesses large 

 and well-provided workshops in addition to their 

 crushing mills and distillery. They grind their 

 own native corn, and make their own lubricating 

 oil, as well as having steam-saws and other local 

 conveniences. 



Wherever one goes in this part of Africa large 

 quantities of the castor-oil plant {Ricinus communis) 

 are visible, and I have often wondered why this 

 rapid-growing weed — for that is all it is — has not 

 been cultivated. The beans, which apparently it 

 bears very freely hereabout, are, I believe, worth 

 £8 to £9 per ton on the European markets, and 

 scarcely any care or expense need be devoted to 

 the plant itself 



