Sept, 1, 1898,] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
177 
UGANDA: CURATOR OF THE NEW 
BOTANICAL GARDENS. 
London, July 8. 
Mr. Alex. Wliyte, liavinK been ajjpuinted 
Curator of tlie Botanical Gardens, Uganda, 
as was mentioned in niy last letter, left London 
on Wednesday per s.s. "Shannon" to take up 
his work. Before he left, I was fortunate enough 
to meet liim, and learn from himself some details 
of this fresh work he has taken up. 
" I had some expectation of being sent to 
Rhodesia,' Mr. Whyte told me, " where a de- 
partment of Agriculture has been talked of for 
some time, but when Mr. Rhodes was home the 
other day it was decided to postpone that pro- 
ject in the meantime, though it's what t!iey want 
out there. With their own food grown in the 
Colony, a good part of their difiicnlties would 
disappear. However as I say, the scheme is put 
oif, for the present and so 1 immediately closed 
with this other oU'er." 
" I didn't know," said I, " that they were 
so far advanced in Uganda as to have Bota- 
nic Gardens. I thought the railway was 
about as much as they had managed in that 
part of the world," 
Mr. Wliyte laughed. " To tell you the truth," 
said lie, " the Gardens so far exist only in imagi- 
nation. I am going out to make thein. " 
" Make them ! You'll have your work cut out, 
then for you.-" 
" Well, yes, I suppose so; but fhen you 
know I am used to pioneering, and 1 don'c 
anticipate much trouble once I get started. 1 
sail by the ' Shannon ' as far as Aden, and then 
leaving her make for Mombasa, after which 1 go 
on up the country to my destination. Altogether 
I shall have a march of about live hundred and 
fifty miles. The entire distance is seven hun- 
dred, but on the lirst part I shall ha\ e the bene- 
fit of the railway. I am taking out all the im- 
plements, seeds, and other things with me that 
I require to make a start." ' 
" That will give you a lot of baggage, I should 
say. » 
"A large quantity. Two hundred loads I 
reckon at least which will all have to be taken 
by native carriers of course. However I am allow- 
ing myself three months for the march." 
" So long as that " ? 
" One can't travel very rapidly in Africa you see 
at any time and besides I have instructions to ex- 
amine and re^iort on the country as I go along, with 
a view to the opening up of other public seed 
gardens. I shall also be making new collec- 
tions of plants. To the botanist, Africa is an 
intensely interesting place. There are any amount 
of flora and fauna there new to Europeans, as no 
doubt you know. From British Central Africa, 
I brought back upwards of three hundred new 
specimens." 
" Do many of these exotic plants survive their 
transportation to a colder climate " ? I en- 
quired. 
" Yes. ^Lany of them do very well. Of course 
they must be looked after. But for instance 
on my last African A-isit, I was fortunate enough 
to lind a new variety of the 
WIDDRINGTONKA, 
that is a description of cedar lirst discovered by 
■yViddrington and called after his name. It i« 
an extremely rare plant, but some of the seeds 
of the variety I brought home have done very 
well. I liad the honor of presenting six plants 
to tlie Queen, which are to lie grown in the 
o-pen at O.sborne. 1 believe they will tiourish 
in the Isle of Wight, where the climate is ex- 
tremely mild. Some have been grown up in 
Inverness, though they can't get them to do in 
Kew, by-the-bye. Another couple I sent to 
the Marquis of Salisbury. The species I brought 
home is called the ' Widdringtonea "Whytei' ' or 
' Wliyte's Cedar' and was found in Nyassaland." 
"Then you have a name child, Mr. 'Whyte." 
" Oh not one only. Over ninety diit'erent 
specimens are called after me, and if I live to 
have anotlier good spell of tl.e tropics, I daresay 
I shall add to their number v.hen I come 
back.' 
"What sort of tropical industries do yon sup- 
pose LTganda will be favourable for, Mr. Whyte " ? 
I enquired. 
" Not tea. The climate is not suitable for that, 
but coffee. I should say Uganda would be a 
grand place for coil'ee, and all products that 
grow under similar conditions. However I'll be 
better able to tell you that, v hen I have been 
there a little time." 
"And big game. I suppose you'll have some- 
thing of that" ? 
" I had a letter last week from a friend who lias 
just gone out, and he tells nie that in the march 
ui>, nineteen elephants were shot among the 
party of eight Europeans. That wasn't a bad 
bag eh ?" 
" And lions" ? 
" There are lions galore, but of course it does 
not follow that I shall fall in with any. Deer 
too abound in that part of Africa. There will be 
plenty ot shooting, no fear of that. ' " You are 
a silver medalisc, Mr-. Whyte, aren't you ?" 
" Yes, of the Royal Zoological Society. '\V'ould 
you liice to see the medal ? I am just on my 
way to leave it at the Bank, for I prize it too 
highly to carry it into Africa. There are only 
six other peojile living who hold a similar one 
to mine" he added with pardonable pride as he 
opened the velvet case and showed the laice 
solid disk covered with engraved figures of ele- 
phants, girafTes and such like awesome creature.? 
on the one .side, and with representations of tro- 
pical birds on the other. 1 obser\ed it was a 
handsome heir loom. 
" Yes, but I have another which, at the present 
time at least, would perhaps be considered of quite 
as much interest, though it has of course no con- 
nection with African exploration. See here," con- 
tinuedMr. Whytediawing out his watch, and show- 
ing me the inscription on tlie back, "this gold watch 
as you see was presented to my father by Mr. 
Gladstone's father on his death-bed. Sir John 
Gladstone was one of the principal heritors in 
my father's parish in Scotland, and when he 
was dying he gave the minister his watch as a 
remembrance of him. For the sake of his son, 
that great man, William Gladstone, my father's 
son prizes it, as well as for other reasons." 
"You won't take that into Africa either, I daie- 
say," I remarked as I shook hands. 
"Not likely. Well good-bye. I'm glad enough 
to get away from all this." Mr. Wliyte con- 
cluded ))ointing to the men and women hurryiti" 
along, — for we stood in the street now — "I'm spoi- 
led for civilized life now, but when I come back in 
two years time, I'll be able to tell you somethiu" 
again. I've always agood side to Ceylon," 
