Feb. I, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
543 
EAST AFRICA FOR PLANTERS : 
UGANDA -FttOM THE .OAiT UPWARDS. 
Jast as wa are realing up about East Africa and 
its reaouroea aud o*pabi.iiio3 aa a greit plantation 
oouatry, th^ire oomes to us the report ot a leoture 
bdfore the Royal Ooloaial luatitua b/ Cipc. Wil- 
liams, the ooaapanioa o( Oipt LugarJ ia Uganda. 
Thrtre are bo joe poftions of ihia paper ofa jmuoh 
pructijal interest that we mast at onoa lay thim 
b3fore ourreadera. Alter diaoua-ing very favourably 
the pro3peat3 of a railflray from ihe Uoiat to Like 
Victoria, wa have a d:Sjription of the country 
from tae mantitue dis.ncS up to pUteiUs of au 
elevation ot 8 OOO fe t or supacior ta our Nuwara 
Eliya and Hortju Pinina : — 
Leaving out the c mat belt, which is extremely fer- 
tile, "nil iro n whioti tbe -xpjrts ot coco ut Mridio'f, 
Indiaruober, (jr.iiu, iScc, m lit become jearW more iui- 
pott4(it aa tUd coumry ^et.le< duwn. aud laboar aud 
cipital b«oome mofo plentiiul, >ve hive at intervRla 
a on ; the lini I ttie •' ca^Ha" in the dfs^rt whicU now 
have n J m*rket for their oropi* bejond the pa'.s ng 
caravan, but wh so pe pie only rtquirH encourage, 
munt and pr Section to very lar^eiy inoria<e their 
output. And, agiiu, it mo-it ba rem^mbere I tliat>ou 
muse n)t oti'idider ih 1 nuTdbir of people now s^'tl'd 
in a certain spot. Conlitious of life in Crtntral Af ica 
are so hard tbai you have only to est ibliah yourself 
in a 8uit»ble place, and plenty of peopl ? wit^i their 
famili .B are only too slad to cjme and live under 
your pratect'O 1. Su;h plaons are Ceita aud Kib«> zi. 
Firthar on, wilti.u a short diatauce of th point 
beyo id waich the rail «liO ild not for the pr inent, 
you have the best portion of the W ikamb* tri&e, 
who ara induatrioua a id fri-ndly. Tbey are now 
being uaeu a'l port rs b^tweea tbeir Cv/UQiry and 
at ti 'US nearer tnecoas', while when I oame do.vn my- 
self I met ^uolher number otth m goinn to or returu- 
iugfr>m theooait, taking down Cittle, goa's, sheep, 
itfor andiiue am bri giug up cloibt, eals, and wire. 
I was mjoh struck w.th the very remafHable change 
and imijrovdmcni in these people. Taey h ve tv r 
been f' I' ndly, with » few local exception^ ; but now the v 
ee-^m quite to consider themaelses as coi^t pe pie, and 
t .iok nothing of a couple of huudred m les' narch to 
the sea, 
KiKOYD. — Still further on you come to the Kikuyu 
cooatry— a perfect Garden ot E len. Imagine a 
r^iUiug plain with abnuJant water aud each 
toil as ia ouiy found on tne site i.f a virgin fore»t, 
the whole aurcouudfd by most baautif ul f ireats « hich 
descend to pUina leemiug with gama of all bin s. 
Beins: at au elevaiion of 0,000 leet, tha oliiuate ia 
mohl .leligntlul, wliila Entjliali v-g-jtanlis grow in the 
mo?t luxur ant m iuuar and '"f mj-t cxcallent flivour. 
Kikuyu fjr Pl^ntbrj — Yon can, as far as I could 
Bee, grow au>tiiing a. auy liaae ; paas, for instance, 
are fii. to eat m oii weeSs after taey ure planted. The 
Datives tisod to ha very troubl' a loie ; but I ihi ik tho e 
Utile difficult 0 3 ara uboat ovjr, an I I prophesy a 
groat (utiiro f-r thij district when traniport arrauue- 
maucs make it p.janble for pi im era to dispose of their 
piO-lncu. Ljavin^ Kinuya we cjme to Ltke Naiv.isha 
and tne Masai pmijs, where you see Urge herds of 
Oiitla and uonkiys lu splendid coudit on, showing how 
good tha grast is. Ana bere, comiug in cmiact wuh 
tha Maiai, wa ma t cou^ider how (hey ar • lilcely to 
interfere with our nonuin s. There is little dmbl that 
Ibe iSl«8ai liava been throa^h very iiard time<. The 
Oat.le diSL'aie swept iff tuRir herds in thousands, and 
thoir youui warriors wera rfdiioed to b ggiiifj for f'l d. 
So far we havQ b jou go d iriendj wi n th'ia-) who 
live lU iha kraaU roun I the Uke, md I ihink most 
of us hive a sort of aanaking regard for tha &1 isai. 
The great trou >le with ih >m la that they are most 
incorrig{iDle mtrau lerH, going long di-it laces for cattle. 
Bui they only do rath jr bettor what all their neiuh- 
boura ilo if thay are strong enough It will not be 
B^i easy nujin^ss to stop Ihe^a raids. Bat still I 
think it may ba dona wuhout destroying a brave 
8 ' 
kraals situated in open country makes them peou- 
lisriy vulnerable, while they have not the oiganisa* 
tion and discipliue so coupicuous in the Zulu and 
Ma abele wtrriors. They acknowledge do paramount 
ohitf, so that you may have trouble with oi.e lot 
without your relations with the others being affected. 
Oa tha whole, I do not think that the Maaai 
question need be looked upon as very serioui. 
iHAu AND THE Angata Nyuki Plain. — Soju aftet 
leaving L*ke Nakuro, on the road to Uganda, you 
rise gradually through a charmi g coun ry, with 
plenty of graaa and water and full of game, up to 
the elevated pliteau to the west of what is called 
in the inaps the Mau escarpment. Here, again, you 
have a fine country. At an elevation of about 
8,000 fvet there are belta of foreat, plenty 
of water, and moat excellent paature. The 
soil is not so rich as Kikuyu, but the country ia quite 
as sa'norioas. Whether anywhere in Bqu'ttorial Alrioa 
E ijjli-h children can grow up hedlhy and a rong I 
am unable tn aay ; but thia district, which ia of con- 
siderable exieut, IS certainly as healihy as th ^ Indian 
hill a'a io'is in the Himxl-yas, aod it his th'S great 
alvai'tige — that its ocf upitim by a white population 
itoes not invo ve the gra ual but none the les) sure 
d'Spossession uf the native^, aa the who e dis rict is 
practically uninhibi'ed owiui? to fears of raida from 
the WananJi and M^aai. But let ma not be misun- 
derstood; It is not as a c doay that I think these 
coun n-a will b« valuable. Except in isolated spots, 
col nisitio i is qune impossible. It we ara to rule 
these ooun'riea wa must have apota in the interior 
whare tl e administrative work C!<n be cirried out 
under more saiiafact 'ry conditions than usually obtain 
at lower alti'iidas. No one who hai not had experi- 
ence CiU cOi'ceiva how much yoar work and d ffi- 
cuities are increased by the enervating effects of the 
ciiaaa>;e, which weakens and debilitatea even the 
strongest. 
KAvittONDo. — Leaving this elevated oountrv wa 
gradualy descended into the valley of K»vi- 
roudo, nl from there to the lake pass through 
an extremely rich and fertils country, whiobi 
however, owing principally to the recent ravages 
of smallpox, is not ao thickly people I ai it was 
when I first arrived there. Here the ordinary native 
grams grow with hardly any labour — it suffices to 
scratch the gr und and throw in a little seed to 
e isure a apleud d crop. I do not think that this 
country, whicb afforda typical example of grain 
c ihivation in Equat 'rial Africa, will ever become ■ 
wh-a^-growing diotriot, for the simple reason that 
w-ieat ia not tdl enough and string enough to kill 
the wee la withont a great deal of lab ur, which ia 
dispeofcd with in the case ot maiza and other 
native grains whose s'a'ks grow to a great height. 
But it will, and even now doea, p odnce a \Hige quantity 
of fo 'd, and is a espi al base lor expeditio is proceed- 
ing nortn towarls Lske Rudolf in search of tha 
ivory which exists in these countries in great 
a uudanc', aufficient for man; years to come. 
People a ,y that the elephant is the curse of Africa, 
a id if there were no elephants there would be 
no slaves. I cannot see that this is trnei 
Undoubtedly the ivory trade haa been made 
Btill more p'Oflcable because the typical trader, so 
well describe 1 by Sir Samu 1 Baker, played a very 
simole and pretty game. H^ looted c>tile and 
exehanired them for iv ry ; and then, when ha wanted 
poriera, he captured what he required and sold them 
together with the ivory, when be Kot to hia journey's 
end. Bat thesa idaaa are, thanks to the way the 
Earopean nations have iu the last few years pushed 
Ti^hx, into the h^»rt of Africa, getting quite out of 
date. Toe rl-k of being caught is too great for most 
ot theae ecoun rela, ihronxh Of course caaes do occur 
at intervals, hut nothing like what one has read of. 
Then oom-'S the important question of labour 
supply, and this will certainly ba a difficulty at tha 
flrat. although under the example and kind treat- 
ment of planters trained in such a school aa 
Ceylon aflords, we should esp ot it to be ovef- 
[ qgiws, ^Ye da A9t think Oegt. >YUU»an ii bo kpej 
