of the greatest use, and would have saved much time and
labour.
In the afternoon I went to have another look at Shamba
Feruzi, or as it was more commonly called Awalthi, this
time going right round and all through it. This plantation
is noted for its coco-nuts, many of the trees yielding up to
300 nuts per annum, and shortly before my arrival 7000 nuts
had been gathered here! I counted the nuts on some of
the trees, and found on an average from sixty to seventy.
All the trees were from seven to ten years old, and covered
the whole extent of the plantation.
When I returned to Magarini in the evening I was much
WANIKA LABOURERS.
satisfied with the work done by the Wanika, which showed
a noticeable improvement every day. Next morning. forty-
nine of them came to work. It was wonderful how quickly
they picked up information, and I hoped that with training
they would become a useful labour force. They were-
obedient and good-natured, and I believe honest, and it was,
surprising the work they were able to do with their small
hoes. A t first I thought it better to let them work with the:
fool they were accustomed to ; later on I meant to train them
to use English implements, and they were so docile and
adaptable that I anticipated no difficulty.
As I was now getting about fifty daily from the two.
villages in this, the busiest season for cultivation, I was
encouraged to expect that by steadily continuing the experiment
the people would gradually grow accustomed to regular
work. Cotton cultivation I thought the most suitable for
such beginners; from the clearing of the bush to the lining,
holding, planting, weeding, picking, cleaning, and drying, it
was all comparatively simple .work, and I also adopted this
plan from the consideration that, apart from gradually
accustoming the Wanika to regular work, it was also a
means of introducing a product for which in my opinion the
country and soil were so well adapted. I found on again
visiting Baraka shamba that Ali bin Jumah had been working
his people very well, a good half of the shamba was now
weeded, and no less than 260 bunches of bananas had been
gathered ; this was most satisfactory. I wrote to our agent
at Mornbrui to send up camels to carry them down to the
coast, the camel hire being only eight annas for each trip.
The Wanika now came in greater numbers than I
required, a fact which much gratified me, and I felt quite
proud of my new labour force. I set some of them to
clean up round the well, and to build a shed Over it for
protection against evaporation by the sun— an example I
hoped to see adopted by the Swahilis. The hole-cutting
became more satisfactory every day, and was soon nearly
finished.
Two days afterwards Ali bin Jumah came to inform me
that altogether 560 bunches of bananas had been gathered
from Shamba Kozi, and that nine camels had arrived to
convey them to the coast for sale. I was also pleased to
receive twQ loads of iron for making hoes, and there were still
two more loads at Mombrui.
On Saturday, August 22, squalls of wind and rain blew
all day from the south-west. Only six Wanika came to
work in the morning and three in the afternoon— they do not
like rairH The man I had put in irons for insolence, having
served his time, came back from the coast begging for
forgiveness; I hoped that the lesson had been effective, so I
took him back, and he proved ever after one of my best men.
The next day being fine, sixty-four Wanika came to work,