Jan. 1, 1903.] THE TROPICAL 
A.GRICUL'rURIST. 
449 
One of the latest uses for rubber is said to 
be in the manufactui-e of waterproof paper 
in which to pack goods for export ! 
IN WEST AFRICA. 
Here is a true picture by au old student 
of the Colonial College who, after six 
months, found himself and another, the only- 
Europeans left of a party of ten who had 
arrived on the (irold (.'oast half-a-year before. 
Writing from Axim, he says: — 
The liist tliinp; is the climate, whieh take it 
as you will is hatl for a European, antl 90 out of 
every 100 that land must have fever whether they 
like it or not; live as they may, they cannot escape 
tlie toll deinanJerl by the coast. Of course fever 
does not necessarily mean death, but it is very un- 
pleasant while it lasts. Most of our party had it 
within three weeks, and ouc of ten only two are 
left ; one dead and the rest are back in England. I 
held out for four months in splendid health, and 
then went down with a crash that made up for lost 
time. The climate also affects the memory, and 
the term "coast memory" is not the sarcasm I 
took it to be, but a fact. 
Next he gives an interesting account of the 
country and products : — 
As the country was hundreds of years ago so it 
is at the present day, a dense jungle, so luxuriant 
that vines, trees, and undergrowth are so entwined 
that it is impossible to leave the bridle-paths 
(called roads) unless you cut your way with a 
matchet, and the ground proper is covered with a 
leafy soil of ages, and is many feet deep. Almost 
any tropical fruits will grow here, but I have 
never been to any part of the world where fruit 
has been so scarce; occas-ional!y I have had oranges, 
but they have a bitter taste ; limes are indifferent; 
pine-apples are excellent, b ut scarce ; Fau Pau, a 
native only of here, is more plentiful. Principal 
products are :— palm oil, palm kernels, rubber, 
ground nuts, kolo nuts, and mahogany. All these 
grow naturally, or I am afraid they do not figure 
in the exports. Mahogany perhaps is difficult to 
work, and is generally floated down in the rainy 
season from up-country. A log of woocPis often 
paid for by the trader two years before he sees it 
at the coast, and some times he never gets it. I 
have myself seen good logs in the bush that have 
been cut down and squared, and probably paid 
for, and then the natives could or would not 
get them to the stream. 
Coffee, rice, and coconuts will ffrow here, but at 
present no trouble is taken vvith them : a good 
tra<le could be made here with copra, as well as 
from the South Seas. The soil of the forest is very 
rich, in fact too strong for ordinary En<jlish vege- 
tables. Lettuce grows from seed so quickly and 
runs to waste, radish grows right out of the 
ground, onions the same ; these I have tried my- 
9elf,bnt no doubt if the soil was worked and luviied 
it would in time grow anything. In my work I 
I hid tracks cut through the bush for miles, and I 
I noticed that nearly every shrub or bush, tree or 
I creeper that was cut bled some kind of liquid ; 
some indeed gave forth a very unpleasant odour, 
and to that, combine 1 with the soil (which h^id 
lain for ages) being lislurbtd, and llie smell of 
the fetid s'.vamp=, T attribute all the fever that 
fell to my share. The smell in the forest is what 
is known as the " West coast smell" of decayed 
vegetation and wood, and is at times almost over- 
powering to the senses. 
Finally we find two more passages of 
some interest : — 
The whole length of the Gold Coast is most 
inhospitable to shipping, not a single harbour ; the 
steamers have to lie off a consiilerable distance 
from the shore, and everything is landed in surf- 
boats. Some places, such as Accra and Cape Coast 
Castle, are very dangerous at times owing to the 
heavy surf that breaks on the beach, and oceas- 
sionally some one is killed by the capsizing of a 
boat in the surf. Second! and Axini are more 
favourable foi landing, but even here /nerchanrtiae 
is often spoiled by sea water. The great questions 
on the coast at present are transport anil labour. 
I have read mxny ideas on the subject, but I 
think myself that railways are the only thing for 
transport, but of cour.se that is impossible at 
present, and the next then is elephants ; these 
animals can climb the hills, cross swamps and 
rivers, and probably could find food in the vegeta- 
tion of the country. In the matter of labour some 
propose Chinese, Indian coolies, or Malays, but 
the climate will affect all nationalities that are 
brought here, for even the natives themselves find 
the country hard on them in the wet seasons ; 
sraali-pox and fever carry off hundreds at a time ; 
whole villages are swept away by the dread 
disease. The native of the country himself in time 
will provide all the labour that is required by 
his own free will ; in the coast towns it is notice- 
able that the native is aping the white man, and to 
do this he must work. 
There is practically speaking, no game in the 
Gold Coast Colony : leopards there are certainly, 
but so timid, prowling at night and keeping to the 
jungle, that they are never seen ; there is also a 
small deer, and the same can be said for that ; 
making a rifle a useless article for anyone to carry. 
TEA-PLANTING IN TEXAS AND ON 
THE CAUCASUS. 
On page 463 will be found an extract 
from a Texas paper showing that the Ameri- 
can Secretary to the Department of Agricul- 
ture is ready to encourage an experiment 
in tea culture in that State and to offer 
very liberal terras. This paper is sent to 
us by an ex-Ceylon planter who, writing 
from Beaumont, Texas, under date 29th 
Octeber, says : — " As I happen to be here 
for a few days on business, I read with some 
interest the enclosed which 1 think will 
form interesting news for your many 
readers. From what I can learn I believe 
were a few Ceylon tea planters to come to 
this locality thev would soon make an im- 
mense fortune." We cannot understand how 
any one acquainted with the labour condi- 
tions in Ceylon and India, and again with 
those prevalent in the States can speak of 
a "fortune" from growing tea with negro 
or any labour available in America. We 
believe our correspondent had no experience 
in "tea "before leaving Ceylon, and so does 
not understand how 'ranch of the work 
—plucking especially — depends on cheap 
labour. 
