Across Widest Africa 



711 



the: sultan of bongasso and his wives 



white than pure milk. It generally hurt 

 one's gums and palate considerably as it 

 burnt to no trifling extent. 



Considerable time was spent at Bon- 

 gasso, the headquarters of a French com- 

 pany with an immense concession, cover- 

 ing 145,000 square kilometers, the rich- 

 est in Central Africa in rubber and ivory. 

 The author was greatly impressed by the 

 care the company was taking of its em- 

 ployees. 



Strict orders had been given to all the 

 chefs des factoreries to establish kitchen 

 gardens in every factorerie and to grow 

 all kinds of vegetables ; every three 

 months a box was dispatched from 

 France with seeds of all kinds for every 

 factorerie. This was deemed an impor- 

 tant precaution to keep Europeans in 

 good health, the need of good fresh vege- 

 tables being felt, especially in the great 

 heat of the summer. 



I have heard people talk a lot in Eng- 

 land of French methods and how badly 

 employees are provided for. This is one 

 of those insular prejudices which, with 

 many others, unfortunately prevail in 

 this country regarding anything done by 

 people of other nationalities. On the 

 contrary, it was a pleasure to notice how 

 thoughtful and generous, almost moth- 

 erly, the Societe des Sultanats was 

 toward her staff. Constant and regular 

 supplies were sent out at much expense to 

 every agent of the company, each receiv- 

 ing a ration box containing a quantity of 

 flour, plenty of wholesome red wine, a 

 bottle of cognac, some champagne as a 

 medicinal comfort, butter, biscuits, mus- 

 tard, tea, and other articles highly wel- 

 come in Central Africa. 



The development of the Societe des 

 Sultanats has been enormous during the 

 last few years. In 1906 the production 



