File:A naturalist in Mid-Africa- being an account of a journey to the Mountains of the Moon and Tanganyika (1890) (14782426982).jpg

Identifier: naturalistinmida00elli (find matches)
Title: A naturalist in Mid-Africa: being an account of a journey to the Mountains of the Moon and Tanganyika
Year: 1890 (1890s)
Authors: Elliot, G. F. Scott (George Francis Scott), 1862-1934
Subjects: Natural history
Publisher: London A.D. Innes & Co.
Contributing Library: Field Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: The Field Museum's Africa Council

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long, and probably may be taken as equivalent indifficulty to the Tzavo to Kikuyu section of theMombasa railway. CostMiles. per mile. Total. Tanga-Nyanza 496 £3,276 £1,624,896 It is, therefore, slightly, though only slightly,more expensive than the African Lakes Koute. The prospects of the Mombasa line may besummed up as follows :— The first 10 miles or coast district is fertile, pro-ducing cocoanut-palms, possibly cloves, and verylikely other valuable plants suitable for plantation.It has considerable forests, and there is a certainamount of rubber. The native population is large,and there are a few Europeans, though the climatecannot be called healthy. In the next stretch of 240 miles there is nothingof any value so far as one can now tell, and perhapsas little prospect of anything as one could findanywhere in Africa. The next stretch of 417 miles is one of great TRANSPORT. 331 value, but it is absolutely untested. No plantationshave been started, and the native population is on
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Fig. 42.—Acacia typical of Thorn-tree Desert. the whole very small and in a very backward con-dition. 332 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. Let us now take the African Lakes Route :— The first 200 miles is the alluvial basin of theZambesi and Shire. Both coal and alluvial goldhave been reported. There are probably at leastninety Europeans now at work. A large sugarfactory is working successfully, and, though theclimate is not healthy, it is probable that cotton,coffee, cocoa, and tobacco may be grown success-fully. The most essential point is that steamertraffic now pays so well that there are at least two,and possibly three, rival companies. The proposed railway (120 miles) across theShire highlands is going to be built simply forlocal traffic by a syndicate chiefly of Glasgowmerchants. It is not necessary to say anythingmore. The next section, from Matope to Karongas atthe north end of Nyassa, is about 400 miles long. There are about nine steamers on this sectionwhich appear to pay. T

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