March  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
597 
tuguese  possessions  which  lie  north  of  the  Zambesi,  and 
Colonel  Serpa  Pinto  has  joined  its  board  as  one  of  the 
foreign  directors.  These  rights  and  powers,  we  are 
informed,  give  the  Central  African  Company  practical 
command  of  the  great  waterway  from  the  Zambesi, 
by  the  Shire  river  and  lakes  Nyasa  aud  Tanganyika, 
to  the  Victoria  Nyanza  and  the  Jl'ast  African  Com- 
pany’s territory  on  the  Equator.  For  the  purpose  of 
Utilizing  this  communieati  m by  water  between  its 
chief  possessions  the  Central  African  Company  has 
recently  formed  a subsidiary  company  entitled  the 
African  Flotilla  snd  Transport  Company,  with  a capital 
of  £50,000. 
As  Captain  Lovett  Cameron  is  the  chairman  of  the 
Central  Afrioan  Company,  and  also  one  of  the  direo- 
tors  of  the  Flotilla  and  Transport  Company,  one  of 
our  representatives  called  upon  him  for  information 
as  to  the  new  undertaking. 
“ Tranrport  by  water,”  be  said,  “is  oheaper — at  least 
in  all  new  countries— than  transport  by  land.  Even  in 
England  canals  hold  their  own  with  railways.  But  in 
Africa  the  owner  of  the  waterway  has  immense  ad- 
vantages. Take  one  example.  It  is  said  to  cost  £300  to 
transport  one  ton  weight  of  goods  from  Zanzibar  to 
Uganda,  thiough  the  East  African  Company’s  pos- 
sessions, across  some  500  miles  of  land.  And  even  now 
we  can  take  it  up  the  Zambesi  and  Shirb  rivers  by 
the  lakes  at  half  that  price.” 
“ But  when  Sir  William  McKinnon’s  railway  is 
finished,”  I interjected,  “ surely  the  advantage  will 
be  with  him  ? ” 
‘•It  is  rot  proposed  to  run  the  railway  more  than 
half-way  ; there  are  some  awkward  mountains  to  be 
crossed  before  the  Victoria  Nyanza  can  be  reached, 
and  my  waterway  taps  nearly  1,500  miles  of  country 
as  against  500 — and  such  country  ! Why,  on  the  Shir 6 
alone  oue  firm  has  a coffee  plantation  with  nearly  a 
million  trees  in  bearing,  and  this  within  two  hundred 
and  fifty  mih  s by  water  from  the  mouth  ot  the  Zam- 
besi. Englishmen  and  SoMchmer,  settled  co'onisia  like 
theBucbauans,  will  have  to  trade  wi  h us.  At  Tete,  on  the 
Zambesi,  there  is  first  rate  ooa!  in  immense  quantity 
on  the  surface.  TheZ-mbesi,  too,  offers  the  shortest  and 
cheapest  route  to-  Fort  Salisbury.  And,  to  judge  by 
the  remains  of  old  gold-diggings,  our  land  north  of 
the  Zambesi  is  at  least  as  rich  in  precious  metals  as 
Matabeleland.” 
“ But  what  do  you  intend  to  do  with  the  £50,000 
of  the  Flotilla  and  Transport  Company  ?” 
“ The  sum  seems  to  you  small,  but  acorns  produce 
oaks.  We  are  now  building  at  Messrs,  Yarrow’s 
light-draught  stern-wheelers,  and  at  Thornycroft's 
equally  light-draught  turbine  screw  boats.  Commander 
Keane,  who  for  two  years  has  been  in  command  of 
our  gunboats  on  the  Zambesi,  has  directed  the 
construction  of  these  vessels  ; they  will  be  adapted 
to  their  purpose.  I hope  to  have  these  steamers 
running  on  the  Zambesi  by  the  middle  of  February 
next.  Then  we  shall  put  a steamer  on  Lake  Nyasaa, 
and  so  on.” 
“ But  the  service  on  the  Zambesi  will  be  unhealthy  ?” 
“ Commander  KeaDe’s  orews  did  not  suffer.  Health 
on  the  Ztmbesi, as  in  London,  depends  ohiefly  on  care- 
ful living.” 
“ But  why  do  you  suppose  that  these  steamers  will 
earn  large  profits  ?” 
“The  Congo  companies  are  already  paying  satisfac- 
tory dividends.  The  Central  African  Company  possess 
immeuse  territories — highlands  north  of  the  Zunbesi 
and  along  the  Shiib  — wbioh  are  fit  for  immediate 
colonization  by  Europeans.  Ou  the  east  hank  of  the 
Shird  are  the  coffee  plantations.  The  Zambesi  taps  far 
richer  country  than  the  Congo,  aud  more  quickly.  Some 
British  colonists  on  the  Shite  have  ulready  madel.rge 
fortunes;  others  are  on  their  way  out.  Nothing  has  pre- 
vented the  colonization  of  this  country  by  Euro- 
peans, but  lack  of  transport;  we  are  about  to 
supply  that;  the  results  oan  be  foreseen.” 
“ Your  Flotilla  and  Transport  Company,  in  fact, 
will  help  to  develop  the  possessions  of  the  Central 
Afrioan  Company  ?" 
“Yes,  certainly.  That  is  why  the  Central  African 
Company  found  half  the  capital  of  the  Flotilla  Oom- 
p»Dy.” 
“ And  you  look  forward  to  a prosperous  future  for 
both  ?” 
“ I do,  and  my  opinion  of  the  Zambesi  and  the 
lake  waterway  was  formed  when  I crossed  Afriea 
in  1876.  I then  deoided  that  this  was  the  most  fruit- 
ful field  for  enterprise  in  all  Africa.  Consider,  too, 
that  we  have  no  watered  capital ; money  is  found  at 
once  for  what  is  needed,  without  extravaganoe  or 
waste  of  any  kind  ; every  step  is  taken  on  the  best 
and  most  careful  advice;  the  Central  Afrioan  Com- 
pany means  business,  and  business  alone.”—/1.  M. 
Budget,  Jan.  19. 
THE  TRICHINOPOLY  PHOSPHATES. 
We  understand  that  Dr.  A.  VcBioker  anJ  Mr.  J. 
Falconer  King  have  reported  ou  the  Trichinopoly 
pbosphatic  nodules  sent  home  by  the  Madras  Govern- 
ment. The  reports  agree  very  closely  with  the  results 
obtained  in  the  Geological  Survey  laboratory  at  Cal- 
cutta. The  average  of  the  six  analyses  published  in 
the  reoords  of  that  Department  show  that  the  nodules 
contain  phosphoric  acid  equavalent  to  59-68  per  cent 
of  tribasio  phosphate  of  lime,  whilst  Dr.  Voelcker 
obtains  57  per  cent  and  Mr.  Falconer  Kirtg  69 
per  cent.  These  gent  emen  agree  also  in  say- 
ing that  the  deposit  may  be  reckoned  as  a valuable 
one,  although  cot  of  the  highest  class,  and  that  it 
would  hardiy  pay  to  export  to  England  during  the 
present  state  of  the  market,  although  it  might  be  used 
on  the  plantations  of  Southern  India,  either  in  its 
raw  state,  or  in  the  form  of  superphosphate.  This 
Report,  it  is  satisfactory  to  observe,  agrees  precisely 
with  the  opinion  expressed  by  Mr.  Holland,  of  the 
Geological  Survey,  who  ex&miued  the  nodules  in  the 
laboratory  last  year,— M.  Mail , Feb.  8. 
COCOA. 
London,  Jan.  30. 
The  auctions  this  week  were  muo'i  less  exten- 
sive, the  total  of  all  growths  beiug  *2,704  bags,  of 
which  535  bogs  were  Ceylon,  720  bags  Trinidad, 
124  bags  Grenada  snd  other  West  India,  1,283  bags 
Guajaquil  aud  42  bags  Caracas.  Aotive  competition 
took  off  all  the  freshly  landed  pareels  of  Oeylou  at 
firm  rates,  the  following  being  the  details  of  sale:  — 
Maria  ...  99  bags. ..85  A at  112s  Od  14  B at  96s  Od. 
Gangwarily  19  „ ...13  No.  1 at  112s  6d,  2 No.  2 at 
91s  6d,  4 No.  3 at  57s  6d. 
Sunnyside  21  „ ...10  No.  bought  in,  4 No.  2 sold 
at  95s  Od,  7 No.  3 and  D 67s 
6d  to  58s  0d. 
Warriapolla  200  „ ...99  sold  at  116s  Od,  73  at  116s  6d, 
6 at  105 b 6d,  11  at  75s  0d, 
llat  58s  6d. 
Coodulgalla  58  „ 37  No.  1 sold  at  112s  6d,  No.  2 at 
100s  Od.  6 No.  3 at  76s  Od. 
Sundry  ...  138  ,,  chiefly  in  second  bands,  bought  in. 
London,  Jan.  27. 
Auct'ons  this  week  were  restricted  to  2,400  bags 
of  growths.  The  demand  keeps  Btrong  although  the 
arrivals,  per  “ Essequibo  ” and  “ Nonpareil  ” toether 
5,370  bags  i educed  some  of  the  trade  to  await  the 
offering  of  the  fresh  supplies  next  week.  Ceylon  met 
with  strong  competion  and  a general  improvement  of 
Is  to  2s  was  established,  whilst  occasional  last  of 
exceptional  quality  realised  3s  to  5s  advance. 
Ceylon.— Yattawatte  ..  93  bags,  89  No.  1 sold  at 
112s  6d  per  owt. 
Bulatwatte  ..  41  bags,  A No.  1 told  at 
115s  6d  per  cwt. 
iDgurugalla  . . 28  bags,  A No.  1 sold  at 
119s  Od  per  cwt. 
Palli  ..  80  bags,  76  bags  at  115s  Od 
to  117  Od  per  owt. 
Hylton  ..  28  bags,  26  bags  No.  1 sold 
at  120  6d  per  cwt. 
Glei  alpine  ..  4 bags,  B sold  at  80s 
per  owt. 
Total  274  bags 
