The Regions Of Richest Soil Are Not In Our Possessions, But In Those
Of Germany, France, Spain, And Portugal, Namely, The Cameroons And
Its Volcanic Island Series, Fernando Po, Principe, And San Thome.
The rich volcanic earths of these places will enable them to compete
in the matter of plantations with any
Part of the known world.
Cameroons is undoubtedly the best of these, because of its superior
river supply, and although not in the region of the double seasons
it is just on the northern limit of them, and the height of the
Peak - 13,760 feet - condenses the water-laden air from its
surrounding swamps and the Atlantic, so that rain is pretty frequent
throughout the year. When within the region of the double seasons
just south of Cameroons you have a rainfall no heavier than that of
the Rivers, yet better distributed, an essential point for the
prosperity of such plantations as those of tea and tobacco, which
require showers once a month. To the north of Cameroons there is no
prospect of either of these well-paying articles being produced in a
quantity, or quality, that would compete with South America, India,
or the Malayan regions, and they will have to depend in the matter
of plantations on coffee and cacao. Below Cameroons, Congo Francais
possesses the richest soil and an excellently arranged climate. The
lower Congo soil is bad and poor close to the river. Kacongo, the
bit of Portuguese territory to the north of the Congo banks, and
that part of Angola as far as the River Bingo, are pretty much the
same make of country as Congo Francais, only less heavily forested.
The whole of Angola is an immensely rich region, save just round
Loanda where the land is sand-logged for about fifty square miles,
and those regions to the extreme south and south-east, which are in
the Kalahari desert regions.
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