June i, 1894.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
815 
"IBEA "— OE IMPliRlAL BRITISH EAST 
AFRICA No. III. 
How strange it must appear to the present 
generation of young planters in Ceylon, to be 
reminded that twenty-five years ago a great part of 
Dimbula and Dikoya and all Maskeliya were not 
only without a road or a bridge, but were under 
dense and almost pathless forest. It would 
sound mythical in the ear of the " creeper" of 
today to be told of surveyors and pioneer planters 
in this " Wilderness of the Peak," who, for 
weeks, lived on no better fare than their coolies' 
rioe and salt-fish eurry while their usual supplies 
were stopped on the other side of Hooded rivers. 
When there was no railway in the land, or none 
nearer thaa Kandy or Gampola, and the cart road 
extended no higher up than Ginigathena Gap, to 
carry supplies into the heart of Dikoya or 
Maskeliya, was no joke. Of the many narrow escapes 
of the "young bloods" of those early days in 
crossing flooded streams, and of actual drownings in 
some sad oases, many stories might be told. How 
" Pedigree Banner " lost his pedigree in the 
dangerous Dikoya river, and how another 
planter pioneer only saved himself (Iiish- 
like) by " taking off his boots while under 
water " — at a time when one if not two companions 
were drowned, — are old stories of the district ; 
while eimilar experiences could be narrated of both 
Maskeliya and Dimbula. 
Now, all this has been brought back to our 
reaollection in reading of the Central region of 
" Ibea" and espeoially of the Ukumbani and Eikuyu 
divisions to which we are now approaching. In 
rising from 3,000 feet at Kibwezi to 5,600 feet in 
Eikuyu Forest, we read of dense forests and of stream 
often in flood in their descents through districts 
4,000 to 5,000 feet above sea-level from what 
may be described as the Nuwara Eliya and Horton 
Plains above. All this is just what the energetic 
pioneers between Great Western and Adam's Peak 
rejoiced over iu their day. Broad-breasted hill 
sides, pathless woods, rivers and waterfalls and 
then the open grassy patanas — all seem repeated 
in this part of Africa on a grand scale. We 
do not read of coffee growing wild in these 
" Ibean " jungles, but it is certainly found in 
some of the forests not far to the North, stretching 
away towards Abyssinia. We remember reading 
many years ago of an Embassy which passed 
in the early part of the century from Bombay to 
the Court of Abyssinia. Landing somewhere in 
the Gulf of Aden on the African coast, a journey 
was made inland, which after a time, led the party 
through a grove of wild coffee, the cherries hanging 
in clusters from trees that were allowed to grow 
at their own sweet will. We only mention this in 
passing to show that the home of the coffee 
plant is not far off " Ibea." But the men 
who are to subdue the forest, do justice to 
the labour available, and endure the many 
privations which are ever the lot of pioneers, 
must be as plucky as were the young men who 
mainly opened Dimbula, Dikoya and Maskeliya in 
the " sixties " and early " seventies." Let no 
Ceylon planter of the present day, too, dream of East 
Atrioa, unless he has learned all the mysteries of 
ooffoe culture, pulping, drying and preparation 
gtnerally, Equally should he be a qualified cacao 
planter, and be up to a good few of the Ueylon 
*' wrinkles " about India-rubbtr, and about coconuts 
and other palms. Of course he can learn a great 
deal from the locally-published Manuals ; liut this 
is not quite enout;h o( itself without some practical 
experience. ' 
m 
la our second paper on " Ibea," we arrived at 
Eibwezi where there is a Scottish Mission station. 
Fifteen miles farther on we come to the " Makindo ' 
or Palm river and still another 8 miles to the 
" Kiboko " or Hippopotamus river where there ia 
much game in hartbee.ste, zebra and small ante- 
lope, while the natives are friendly. But the two 
branches of the Eiboko when in flood are ditfioult 
to cross. Twenty miles onward at the Wakufukoa 
or salt river, "numberless herds of game" are 
always met. One warning given is that " the 
beehives should be avoided as much as possible 
as the bees attack a caravan on any provocation." 
We are now near Eilungu 4,000 feet above sea-level 
with peaks rising to (5,400 feet ; but the toad ii still 
upwards, the natives fairly numerous in the open 
parte, and the country well-cultivated. At Macbako's 
post, an elevated plateau surrounded on three sides 
by hills, the slopes of which are highly cultivated, 
we are 5,400 feet above sea-level and 350 miles 
from the Coast at Mombasa. Now it is to this 
point— or close by at Eikuyu — that the first grand 
section of Railway is projected (on its way to 
Uganda) and having thus afforded an idea of what 
travelling at present means in these regions, we are 
able turning aside from the " Handbook," to give 
the very latest information of this important region 
which we find in an official Report published 
in the London Times only received by the mail 
on Tuesday; It is as follows, only promising that 
Ukambani, Eikuyu and Maohakos refer very much to 
the same district : — 
East ArEiciN Development. 
AN INTBEESTING EEPORT FEOM UKAMBANI. 
The British East Africa Ootsptny have received from 
their agent at Muchakoa aa interesting report upoa 
the present oouditioa of Ukambani, a district about 
midway between the coast and Uganda, aod not far 
removed from Kiknyu, the point to which the pioneer 
expeditiou of the Freehold Colony is dtteoting ita 
intended iDvestigatioo. 
The report, after describing a sitisfactory and 
growing readiaoss on the part of tbe AVakamba, who 
inhabit the district, to accept oo.'upation, and detailing 
the rates of labour, gives tbe following aooount of a 
meeting held by the elders of the distriot : — 
" On December 4tli last all tha elders of the Macha- 
k03 Hill, Manyani, Iveti, Nzibus, Kasinna, Mututuni 
Quambodi acd Enxoleni usuembleJ here and held a 
long shaori. This ehiuri. aa I have before mentioned, 
W.1S convened by thsmsjlves after askint; my pormisaion 
t3 be allowed to meet here The substance of what 
they said is as follows ■ — 
" ' That we, the Wazee of the district, recognize the 
benefits we are deriving from the company (Mzaogu) 
here ; cur young men have learnt to work and earn 
mali, our country is peaceful, Masai do not raid ub and 
our people live at peace with one another, our oattle 
can graze in security &o. All m»tters brought to ibe 
Europeans for settlement have always received a fair 
hearing, and the Mzuugu knows the Wakamba anil 
their ways, so we have every contidenoe in bringing our 
complaints &c. and troubles to tbe station for aetlle- 
meut. 
'iWe tell yon all this so that the company may 
know that we are glad they come to lire amongst 
us ; our country is theirs and ours, and half the food i^ 
theirs.' 
" This is a summary of what they came in to say, 
and this sentiment was backed op by a further ottering 
of 40* loida of flour, which makes, with the previoun 
contributions, a total of over 20,0000 lb. of tlour contri- 
buted to tbe station in 12 montbs." 
In describing the commeroial and agricultural value 
of the country, the rep.>rt proceeds to state that the 
distriot is extremely fertile and riob in agriculture! and 
cattle. The population ia estimated at about l.tXX', 000 
soula, all extremely induotriou«. The followiU({ crop* 
grow frooly : — Troo beans, kidai'y beau*, maizi', millet 
and two kinds of imall grain, casiava, manioo, nagtr- 
oBue, ^jweet potatoei, banauag and pampkioi. Tobaooo 
