The soil is abnormally rich. Eucalyptus seed sown in the open produces trees of 12-15ft. in 18 months. Strawberries yield two and three plentiful crops annually, in fact growth has often to be checked, as in the case of cauliflowers, which need transplanting three times if fruit is to be obtained. Excellent coffee is grown in the country, and a very limited amount of inferior wheat. There is no reason why rice should not be successfully cultivated in the swampy soil, and tea on the sides of the mountains. The great obstacle to the developing of industries at present is the difficulty of transport to the districts where there is a profit-yielding demand. No minerals have yet been discovered with the exception of an appreciable amount of iron, which the people have instinctively learned to work; they are able to turn out good spear heads, hoes, knives, and even rough needles of clumsy proportions. This is undoubtedly one of the world’s natural zoological gardens. Huge herds of elephants, sometimes numbering 200 or 300, trundle through the tiger grass; leopards and lions may be heard at night roaring after their prey, sometimes even round the capital; crocodiles and hippopotami infest the lakes; monkeys and chimpanzees scamper about the forests; snakes lie coiled up in the long grass; and everywhere teems insect life, from the infinitesimal jigger to the locust. Lions are feared less by the people than leopards. In Bunyoro, where lions showed a leaning towards human flesh and blood, the King or Chief of the infested district used to send out two black cows or calves, and the lions, after having tasted their blood, no longer troubled the people, but dieted from that time on pigs and hyenas. Toro is still in the infancy of its development; the land, its resources, the people, and their possibilities are fields that give promise of a harvest of rich fruition to those who go to labour with mind and will. CHAPTER VI Home Life Life in Africa offers as sharp a contrast as is possible to imagine to the rush and bustle of the old country. Perhaps this is one of the earliest impressions that strikes one when coming straight from a large and noisy household in the Metropolis. The keynote of this country is “mpora, mpora”—“slowly, slowly,” and its effects are seen and felt everywhere. Time is of no consequence or value to the people. The wheels of life revolve so slowly that I felt as if my whole being had been pulled up with a jerk. The clockwork of activity had to be allowed to run down gradually, in order to fall into correspondence with things around.