The Nyika Plateau
Sia.,—I read Colonel Van der Post's book Venture into the Interior with some surprise. The agricultural departments of the East African Territories are staffed with some extremely able men, and I am sure they have left little, if any, of East Africa uninvestigated for agricul- tural development; especially such easily accessible places as Mlanje and the Nyika. I notice one of your readers takes up the cudgels on behalf of Mlanje Mountain in your issue of March 28th. In 1923 I wandered all over the Nyika Plateau. As it only averages 8,000 feet no altitude difficulties were encountered, and porters were readily obtained with the offer of a little extra pay, blankets and chances of much meat. The local Africans assured me that game grazed like cattle on the plateau and this proved to be correct. I was informed by Dr. Laws of Livingstonia, who was still alive and active at that time, that, to the best of his knowledge, I was the first white man to explore this uninhabited plateau. But of course it may have been done previously.
It would appear typical of Whitehall to send out a stranger to the country to investigate districts which must now be well known to the various Technical Departments. I must, however, congratulate Colonel Van der Post on his linguistic abilities, as he was able to understand African camp-fire talk in an area where languages differ about every fifty miles. This is a real accomplishment —Yours
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