On February i, Weaver returned from Mombasa all the
better and stronger for his- fortnight’s visit. Shortly afterwards
I received important instructions from the Court of
Directors in England, directing me to proceed on a new tour
of inspection northwards. I accordingly handed over the
charge of the whole of the plantations to Weaver, who had
proved himself most zealous and hard-working, and had
already accomplished wonders at Magarini. A large cotton-
shed and drying-ground had been built, a cotton-ginning
machine had been got and set up, and a plough had at last
arrived— the first used in East Africa. It proved a great
saving in labour, and was a source of great interest to the
Arab cultivators.1
1 Some notes supplied to me by Mr. Weaver may be of interest as
giving an idea of the agricultural operations carried on about this time
at the shambas. (See Appendix B.)
