There Is Then A Fault. About 100 Yards Higher Up The Stream Black Vesicular Trap Is Seen, Penetrating In Thin Veins The Clay Shale Of The Country, Converting It Into Porcellanite, And Partially Crystallizing The Coal With Which It Came Into Contact.

On the right bank of the Lofubu there is another feeder entering that river near its confluence with the

Muatize, which is called the Morongozi, in which there is another and still larger bed of coal exposed. Farther up the Lofubu there are other seams in the rivulets Inyavu and Makare; also several spots in the Maravi country have the coal cropping out. This has evidently been brought to the surface by volcanic action at a later period than the coal formation.

I also went up the Zambesi, and visited a hot spring called Nyamboronda, situated in the bed of a small rivulet named Nyaondo, which shows that igneous action is not yet extinct. We landed at a small rivulet called Mokorozi, then went a mile or two to the eastward, where we found a hot fountain at the bottom of a high hill. A little spring bubbles up on one side of the rivulet Nyaondo, and a great quantity of acrid steam rises up from the ground adjacent, about 12 feet square of which is so hot that my companions could not stand on it with their bare feet. There are several little holes from which the water trickles, but the principal spring is in a hole a foot in diameter, and about the same in depth. Numbers of bubbles are constantly rising. The steam feels acrid in the throat, but is not inflammable, as it did not burn when I held a bunch of lighted grass over the bubbles. The mercury rises to 158 Deg. when the thermometer is put into the water in the hole, but after a few seconds it stands steadily at 160 Deg. Even when flowing over the stones the water is too hot for the hand. Little fish frequently leap out of the stream in the bed of which the fountain rises, into the hot water, and get scalded to death. We saw a frog which had performed the experiment, and was now cooked. The stones over which the water flows are incrusted with a white salt, and the water has a saline taste. The ground has been dug out near the fountain by the natives, in order to extract the salt it contains. It is situated among rocks of syenitic porphyry in broad dikes, and gneiss tilted on edge, and having a strike to the N.E. There are many specimens of half-formed pumice, with greenstone and lava. Some of the sandstone strata are dislocated by a hornblende rock and by basalt, the sandstone nearest to the basalt being converted into quartz.

The country around, as indeed all the district lying N. and N.W. of Tete, is hilly, and, the hills being covered with trees, the scenery is very picturesque. The soil of the valleys is very fruitful and well cultivated. There would not be much difficulty in working the coal. The Lofubu is about 60 yards broad; it flows perennially, and at its very lowest period, which is after September, there is water about 18 inches deep, which could be navigated in flat-bottomed boats. At the time of my visit it was full, and the current was very strong. If the small cataract referred to were to be avoided, the land-carriage beyond would only be about two miles. The other seams farther up the river may, after passing the cataract, be approached more easily than that in the Muatize; as the seam, however, dips down into the stream, no drainage of the mine would be required, for if water were come to it would run into the stream. I did not visit the others, but I was informed that there are seams in the independent native territory as well as in that of the Portuguese. That in the Nake is in the Banyai country, and, indeed, I have no doubt but that the whole country between Zumbo and Lupata is a coal-field of at least 2-1/2 Deg. of latitude in breadth, having many faults, made during the time of the igneous action. The gray sandstone rock having silicified trees lying on it is of these dimensions. The plantation in which the seam of coal exists would be valued among the Portuguese at about 60 dollars or 12 Pounds, but much more would probably be asked if a wealthy purchaser appeared. They could not, however, raise the price very much higher, because estates containing coal might be had from the native owners at a much cheaper rate. The wages of free laborers, when employed in such work as gold-washing, agriculture, or digging coal, is 2 yards of unbleached calico per day. They might be got to work cheaper if engaged by the moon, or for about 16 yards per month. For masons and carpenters even, the ordinary rate is 2 yards per day. This is called 1 braca. Tradesmen from Kilimane demand 4 bracas, or 8 yards, per day. English or American unbleached calico is the only currency used. The carriage of goods up the river to Tete adds about 10 per cent. to their cost. The usual conveyance is by means of very large canoes and launches built at Senna.

The amount of merchandise brought up during the five months of peace previous to my visit was of the value of 30,000 dollars, or about 6000 Pounds. The annual supply of goods for trade is about 15,000 Pounds, being calico, thick brass wire, beads, gunpowder, and guns. The quantity of the latter is, however, small, as the government of Mozambique made that article contraband after the commencement of the war. Goods, when traded with in the tribes around the Portuguese, produce a profit of only about 10 per cent., the articles traded in being ivory and gold-dust.

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