December 5, 1867.
As year's end approached, work in the colony began to ease. The East African colony was no longer as poverty-stricken and bare-bones as it had been two years earlier, when it first landed at Dar es Salaam Port on February 1, 1865.
A mature set of procedures was now in place, greatly reducing needless trouble. Immigration work had also become much more manageable; they only needed to copy past experience wholesale.
Thus, by the end of the year, the East African colony had the capacity to stir things up again. Although it had previously occupied southern Kenya, Northern Kenya was still sitting there untouched.
As for the Northwest Region, they could only watch it this year. The local epidemic had not yet ended, and even the most optimistic estimate said they would have to wait until next year to make a move.
Northern Kenya's natural conditions were far inferior to those in the south. Its main problem was relatively sparse rainfall, leaving desert and grassland side by side.
But the East African colony was not picky. Where there was grassland, rainfall was decent enough, and a small amount of desert was not entirely unacceptable.
Average annual rainfall in the north was roughly 300 to 400 millimeters. That meant some areas could receive 500 to 600 millimeters, while certain desert regions did not even reach 200 millimeters.
These rainfall conditions were not bad. Drought-resistant crops could be planted, and livestock raising was also an option.
Of course, that was assuming they avoided the deserts and arid zones, especially the northeastern area near Somalia, the driest part of all Kenya.
This was mainly affected by terrain and ocean currents. The northwest was flat as a whetstone, while the Southeast Trade Winds carried moisture from the Indian Ocean toward East