20 
LAND & WATER 
November i6, 1916 
German East Africa 
From a Settler's Point of View 
By John A. Jordan 
MANY thousands of young men will lia\e 
acquired a taste for outdoor and.aclixi hli 
through their training and service during thi> 
war, and will lind it difficult, if not impossiMc 
to return to sedentarv lornis of occupation as a nu an> 
of livelihood. It is to the I^ritish Dominions and to 
her captured possessions that they will look to give them 
the chance of the outdoor life to^hich they have become 
accustomed. East Africa was the richest colony (Ger- 
many had, and I gained a wide knowledge of it in my 
wanderings. The lolluwing hints based on actual c.\- 
■ perience may be found of practical use. 
itic first thing a settler needs in the selection ut a 
suitable farm is good soil and plenty of water, so thai 
there will be no chance of his suffering too seventy 
should he be overtaken by drought. Also he should 
endeavour to obtain land well stocked with suffiiitnl. 
timber and stone which will be required for the building 
of house and kraals. Should he mtend to devote hinisell 
to agriculture, he sliould choose land near a railwaw 
otherwise, unless he is growing valuable crops that are 
bringing in a large profit, it will not pay to transport 
produce a long distance by waggon. 
When the (iovernment join up British and (unnan 
East Africa they should consider this fact and carr\ the 
railway through the most fertile and healthy land. \\i; 
have now built a light railway from Voi to Kilimanjaro, 
a distance of about 90 miles." During the recent fighting 
this has been of untold use for the speedy conveyance 
of troops and munitions. From a settler's point of 
view it is useless, for the country from Voi to Ta\eta, 
through which it runs are: the Seringeti IMains, which 
are dry, sandy and waterless and ol no use hut as a game 
reserve. The first river is at Taveta, the forest banks 
of which are covered with tsetse fly, the bite of which 
i< fatal to horses and cattle. 
On the slopes of Kilimanjaro and all the surronndmg 
districts planters have had splendid results from the 
culti\ation of coffee and fibre, and they can send their 
crops by direct line from Mushi to Tanga on the coast 
Were a railway to be carried from Lumbwa station on 
tl)c Uganda railway to Fort Ikonia in the new colony, a 
distance of 150 miles, the line would be run through the 
best part of the colony, containing a large num!)er of 
rivers, whose banks are well timbered, and possessmg 
natural salt licks for the stock. It has in addition the 
advantage of being the healthiest part of East Africa, at 
an altitude of 8,000 ft., rejoicing in a cool temperature 
in which the mosquito does not e.xist In character 
the country resembles an enormous English park, where 
the land is suitable both for grazing and agriculture. 
The binlding ol this railway should not be very costly, 
il carried out by Indian labour. The Uganda railway 
cost just over £5,000,000. It runs a distance of 580 miles 
through very difficult country. This work would be the 
means of introducing more skilled Indian workmen into 
the cotmtry. They are always in great demand amongst 
the settlers, being s])ecially useful on a property where 
there is building and fencing to be done on a largo scale. 
From Ikoma to Tabora, the (icrman's finest inland 
town, a distance of about 350 miles, the land is gi\on up 
to agriculture and. the rearing of stock. It is a country 
with plenty of native labour, suitable for porterage and 
any kind of manual work which does not require much 
brains. The tribes which inhabit this territory are 
the Washise, who grow Wimbee and Matama grain, and 
rear small herds of cattle and sheep ; the En-^lusu who 
cultivate grain, beans and potatoi^s, and poss■J■^s large 
herds of cattle, and at Tabora there is an .\rab settlement, 
wherv there arc extensive plantations of tropical Iruits. 
ThevMlso grow cloves, chillies and pepper, \Vi.i:li they 
ex})ort in large quantities, and which tiijd a ready m^h^et 
at most excellent prices. 
The Sukumu and Monuwazie are practically two 
branches of one and the same tribe, being the strongest 
of all the native tribes. Thcv inhabit a very large area. 
They own a very great amount of stock but are chiefly 
engaged in agriculture. They grow every kind of grain, 
three different varieties of beans, also a great deal of 
small white millet, which is called mafuta, from which 
they extract a \er>' fine oil, used for cooking purposes, 
and also for smearing their bodies. They also cultivate 
chillies and ground nuts, which they take into the towns 
and sell to the traders, who export them to Europe in 
big consignments. The ships putting in at the different 
ports on the lake load up with thousands of bags. 
Some Native Tribes 
In the district surrounding Tabora the Manyama tribe 
live. They do not grow much grain and keep \'ery little 
stock, jMcferring to become soldiers or policemen to the 
trouble of growing their own food. The Wagia tribes, 
which in the British Colony are. called Kavirondo, dwell 
on the shores of the Lake Victoria Nyanza. These people 
maintain large herds of stock and grow large crops of 
cotton, in addition to all their own food supplies They 
are great fishermen and obtani much fish from the lakes, 
which they sell in the local market. 
, The hilly country is the home of the Buragi tribes, also 
large agriculturists, who keep a little stock and poultry. 
The Ukarrie tribes, inhabiting some of the islands that 
were ow-ned by the Ciermans in Victoria I Nyanza, are 
mainly engaged in fishing. 
In the districts of Munanya and Shirati, two ports on 
Victoria Nyanza, the Germans had started large rubber 
plantations and enormous rice fields. The rubber 
mostly planted was Para, and from all accounts it has 
' given cxcellerit results. The rice requires improveinent. 
The crops are satisfactory, but in the threshing, which is 
done by the natix-es, they break the grain too much, 
besides lea\ing the husks amongst the cleaned rice. 
A great industry could be begun in the cultivation of 
the sugar cane, which grows in those parts like .1 weed. 
The introduction of Indians, who understand the growing 
and crushing of the cane, would be of great advantage 
to the country. Small expense would be incurred by the 
Government in imi)orting Indian agriculturists with their 
families. The country is most suitable for the growing of 
all their staple foods, and the climate is much the same as 
that to which they have been accustomed. Thousands 
of acres round the lake could be placed at their disposal 
for this purpose. Many of the storekeepers already 
there are Indian immigrants, and they seem to have be- 
■ come acclimatised and settled down in the country as 
though it were their native land. 
Another profitable industry is fibre growing, which if 
carried out on an extensive scale should prove very success- 
ful. Very good resiflts have been obtained from the 
cultivation of fibre in British East Africa. 
Settlers who are lucky enough to secure farms in 
German East Africa, would have a great many things in 
their favour from the beginning. Living expenses are 
extremely cheap : a man can live on £1 a week. Labour- 
ers can be procured in any nr.mbers and at a remarkably 
low wage. Natives are only too pleased to work for 
three rupees a month and 10 hellas (one penny) a day for 
food. Every description of stock is purchasable at a 
reasonable price, the natives having such large herds that 
they arc always willing to dispose of some ot them. The 
country in the interior is health}', and even the land in 
the innnediate vicinity of the lake has now been rendenxl 
habitable for lunopeans by the clearing away of the 
rank undergrowth, which was the cause of so', much 
fever. In former days an average of five out of every ten 
Europeans, it they dwelt by the lake for any time, died 
of black water fever. Now there are large towns of 
Europeans, who only suffer from the ordinary sick- 
nesses one is subject to in any part of Africa. ^ 
After travelling Africa for sixteen years I would desire 
no better spot to settle in tlian German East .Mrica, 
once it is under British rule. 
