I had at once commenced clearing away the high grass, and,
as usual when first settling, I had broken up a few small plots, and had
already sown seeds of English cucumbers, sweet melons, &c.
The soil was wonderfully rich, at the same time it was very easily
worked. When the tall rank grass was torn out by the roots, a fine
surface was exposed that resembled dark chocolate. This was a vegetable
loam, with a minimum of two feet thickness, resting upon a bright red
quartz gravel.
The quartz was not rounded, and appeared to be only the residue of
decayed rock that had never been subjected to the action of running
water. When washed, a handful remained of sharp and clear white
fragments.
With such a subsoil the country must be healthy, as the heaviest shower
drained rapidly through the gravel.
I employed the prisoners in clearing the grass, while the soldiers
commenced cultivation, and dug up the ground with a number of hoes that
I borrowed from Kabba Rega.
These implements are nearly the same in shape as those in Gondokoro and
throughout the Madi country, but smaller, and the iron is very brittle
and inferior.
