92 ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. 96 poses. Plantations to the extent of 16,000 acres, which formerly belonged to the Sultans of Zanzibar, are now owned and cultivated by the Government.

The natives of the coast villages are largely occupied with fishing . The outrigger canoes whichthey employ are unsuitable for heavy seas;and, consequently, during the south-west and north - east monsoons the fishing population usually migrates northward and southward in turn . Canoe fishing is carried on chiefly with hooks and lines . Nets, with or without fishing stakes, are used inshore , and basket-traps arecommon.

There are no mines in the Protectorate, and only un. important manufactures of Indian jewellery, gold and silver work, Indian and native pottery, native ropes and mats. There are a few oil-mills for expressing the oil of copra and simsim , and in conjunction with two of theseare found two factories having an annual ontput of 800 tons of soap.

With its abundant rainfall , its profusion of tropical plants, and in particular its rich clove and coconut plantations , the Zanzibar Protectorate holds a position of great agricultural and economic strength . But great as its resources are , its production falls far short of its capacity The native population is indolent and improvident, and is said to be dwindling in numbers ; while the Arab race, no longer recruited by immigrants from Arabia or supported by cheap slave labour, is losing vitality, and is heavily mortgaged to the Indian moneylenders. Thus the supply of labour and of ener geticcontrol is declining rather than improving, while development is impeded by lack of capital aswell as labour. Hopes have been expressed that European capital andmanagement may be introduced . The im portation of Indian ryots hasbeen suggested as a means of supplementing the native labour supply. Facilities are offered for the freehold purchase of Government and private properties, thelatter requiring a careful scrutiny nf titlebefore acquisition . The climate of Zanzibar is not, for a tropical island , unhealthy, and risk to the health of Europeans has , in recent years, been reduced by the progress of medical knowledge of tropical