CH A P T ER I
ARRIVAL IN AFRICA— JOURNEY TO THE MAGARINI
SHAMBAS
Landing at Mombasa— Scope of my Mission— Departure for Meiindi -
Interviews with the Liwalis of Melindi and Mombrui— Ground Cultivation,
Coco-nuts— Start for Shambas— Sabaki River— Mombrui— First
Night in a Slave Village— Native System .of Agriculture— Labour
Question— Cotton— The Wanika— Scarcity of Water Supply— The
African Slave.
On July 9, 1891, I arrived at Mombasa to take charge of
certain plantations lately acquired by the Imperial British
East Africa Company in the Melindi district further up the
coast, my instructions being to work and develop these as fully
as possible, and to assume concurrently, the agricultural supervision
of the whole of the Melindi and Sabaki districts with
the view of improving the native cultivation generally. The
scope of my mission was subsequently extended, so- as to
embrace not only an examination of the spice and other
products of Zanzibar and Pemba, but also a detailed inspection
of the country between Mombasa and Melindi, the Sabaki
region inland, and along the coast from Melindi to Lamu and
northward to Port Durnford. My sphere of operations also
included the districts behind this coast-line which comprise
the basin of the lower Tana, the Protectorate of Witu, and
the countries of the Wa-Galla, Somalis, Wa-Boni and other
tribes, as well as the islands of Lamu and Patta off the Witu
coast.
I remained in Mombasa five days while making the
numerous necessary preparations for my journey to the
shambas, during which interval I was the guest of Mr. M R.
12
¡W. Pigott, the Company’s Acting Administrator. In the complicated
business of procuring supplies, implements, servants,
fete. I was cordially assisted by the various officials at headq
u a r t e r s . Amongst the supplies I took with me were several
bags of tobacco and cotton-seed for the purpose of improving
the cultivation of these products. On July 15 I sailed
from Mombasa in the Company’s coasting steamer Henry
\Wright, accompanied by Mr. Weaver (who afterwards became
LANDING-PLACE, MOMBASA.
my assistant). After a fairly good passage we reached
Melindi at 5 p.m. the same day. I was met on board by
■Mr. Bell-Smith, the officer in charge of the Melindi district
p^who was afterwards, I regret to say, shot by a native).
Biis house, a two-storied white building on the beach, was a
conspicuous object from the sea, and here we took up our
•quarters during our stay in Melindi. I was much pleased
with the appearance of the town, which was larger than I