WESTWARD TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 
ii5 
time producing breeds which compare in profitability with those raised 
in better circumstances. The hump of the African ox, for instance, 
disappears in the first generation, and in the next he more nearly 
resembles the European animal. By supplying settlers and natives 
with stock improved in this way, it is expected that the herds will be 
multiplied many times in value. 
The same may be said of the sheep, which has been similarly im¬ 
proved. In the various flocks visible may be seen the native breed, 
the half-bred, three-quarter bred and full bred English, the improve¬ 
ment visible being surprisingly great, That Mr. Roosevelt was thor¬ 
oughly interested in this transformation goes without saying. He 
saw specimens of the native sheep, rough and hairy, to the untrained 
eye looking more like a goat than a sheep. Yet this undeveloped 
animal, when crossed with the Sussex or the improved Australian type, 
becomes a woolly beast that is very evidently a sheep. A second cross 
makes another great improvement, and soon the breeder has a flock 
that it is hard to distinguish from those of English fields, yet one that 
is better adapted to the sun and clime of Africa. 
In this way a remarkable change is produced alike in the ox and 
the sheep. The purpose of the experimental farm is not only to produce 
an improved type adapted to the conditions of the locality, but also to 
supply the farmers with blooded animals which will add greatly to 
the value of their flocks. This work is prosecuted with the greatest 
zeal and enthusiasm, though the experimenters are hampered by want 
of funds and seriously troubled by the ravages of the East Coast fever. 
This malady, to which their animals are very subject, came into 
the province from German East Africa several years ago, and is grad¬ 
ually spreading despite all efforts to check it. A cow attacked by it 
will live thirty days or more, during which the ticks which attack it 
are infected with the poisons of the disease and transmit it to other 
cattle which may pass over the same ground. Experiment has shown 
that the ticks hold the virulent disease germs for a year, and in that 
time they may infect many animals. 
Thus the efforts of the stock-breeders are largely negatived. Left 
to themselves the natives would be helpless and the disease spread 
until all their cattle were exterminated. But that is not the way with 
