Page:The empire and the century.djvu/912

 Valley, which, though some thousand feet lower than the surrounding heights, shares their temperate climate. For purposes of colonization and cultivation, the Protectorate may be divided into two parts—the highlands composed of this plateau and of the Rift Valley, and the lowlands, consisting of the coast and the country round the shores of Lake Victoria. The lowlands must be regarded as a planter's country, suitable for most forms of tropical agriculture, but not for the permanent residence of Europeans, though they can perfectly well reside there and superintend cultivation. The shores of Lake Victoria are not healthy, though it is hoped that they may be much improved by drainage. The sea coast, however, must be given a high rank for health among tropical climates. Mombasa and Lamu are certainly not inferior in this respect to Calcutta and Bombay, considering that they are tropical towns; the temperature is moderate, and there is a continual breeze from the sea. For practical purposes the healthiness of the coast is increased by the proximity of the highlands, which can be reached in twenty-four hours from Mombasa when a change of air is needed. The chief products of the lowlands are rubber, copra, mangrove, bark (which is used for tanning), and various kinds of valuable fibre. The indigenous rubber, which is obtained from a creeper called landolphia, is of good quality and plentiful in many districts, particularly in the forests near Melindi and Witu. It is also found in various parts of the highlands, and is abundant in Uganda. The copra is said to be of extremely good quality.

It is not, however, these tropical lowlands which are the most valuable and characteristic feature of East Africa, but the temperate highlands, which are not merely a planter's country, but suited to the permanent residence of Europeans. It is somewhat difficult to define their extent, as the country at some distance from the railway is not known as well as it should be, but the belt of good land is about three hundred miles wide in the part where it is traversed by the railway, and it is