My Informants
Must Have Been Mistaken, For I Found The Island Of Mozambique Here
To Be Lat.
16d 34' 46" S.
Respecting this range, to which the gorge has given a name,
some Portuguese writers have stated it to be so high that snow lies on it
during the whole year, and that it is composed of marble.
It is not so high in appearance as the Campsie Hills when seen
from the Vale of Clyde. The western side is the most abrupt,
and gives the idea of the greatest height, as it rises up perpendicularly
from the water six or seven hundred feet. As seen from this island,
it is certainly no higher than Arthur's Seat appears from Prince's Street,
Edinburgh. The rock is compact silicious schist of a slightly reddish color,
and in thin strata; the island on which we slept looks as if torn off
from the opposite side of the gorge, for the strata are twisted and torn
in every direction. The eastern side of the range is much more sloping
than the western, covered with trees, and does not give the idea of altitude
so much as the western. It extends a considerable way
into the Maganja country in the north, and then bends round
toward the river again, and ends in the lofty mountain Morumbala,
opposite Senna. On the other or southern side it is straighter,
but is said to end in Gorongozo, a mountain west of the same point.
The person who called this Lupata "the spine of the world"
evidently did not mean to say that it was a translation of the word,
for it means a defile or gorge having perpendicular walls.
This range does not deserve the name of either Cordillera or Spine,
unless we are willing to believe that the world has a very small
and very crooked "back-bone".
We passed through the gorge in two hours, and found it rather tortuous,
and between 200 and 300 yards wide. The river is said to be here
always excessively deep; it seemed to me that a steamer
could pass through it at full speed. At the eastern entrance of Lupata
stand two conical hills; they are composed of porphyry,
having large square crystals therein. These hills are called Moenda en Goma,
which means a footprint of a wild beast. Another conical hill
on the opposite bank is named Kasisi (priest), from having a bald top.
We sailed on quickly with the current of the river, and found
that it spread out to more than two miles in breadth; it is, however,
full of islands, which are generally covered with reeds, and which,
previous to the war, were inhabited, and yielded vast quantities of grain.
We usually landed to cook breakfast, and then went on quickly.
The breadth of water between the islands was now quite sufficient
for a sailing vessel to tack, and work her sails in; the prevailing winds
would blow her up the stream; but I regretted that I had not come
when the river was at its lowest rather than at its highest.
The testimony, however, of Captain Parker and Lieutenant Hoskins,
hereafter to be noticed, may be considered conclusive
as to the capabilities of this river for commercial purposes.
The Portuguese state that there is high water during five months of the year,
and when it is low there is always a channel of deep water.
But this is very winding; and as the river wears away some of the islands
and forms others, the course of the channel is often altered.
I suppose that an accurate chart of it made in one year
would not be very reliable the next; but I believe, from all that I can learn,
that the river could be navigated in a small flat-bottomed steamer
during the whole year as far as Tete. At this time a steamer of large size
could have floated easily. The river was measured at the latter place
by the Portuguese, and found by them to be 1050 yards broad.
The body of water flowing past when I was there was very great,
and the breadth it occupied when among the islands had a most imposing effect.
I could not get a glimpse of either shore. All the right bank beyond Lupata
is low and flat: on the north, the ranges of hills and dark lines below them
are seen, but from the boat it is impossible to see the shore.
I only guess the breadth of the river to be two miles; it is probably more.
Next day we landed at Shiramba for breakfast, having sailed 8-1/2 hours
from Lupata. This was once the residence of a Portuguese brigadier,
who spent large sums of money in embellishing his house and gardens:
these we found in entire ruin, as his half-caste son had destroyed all,
and then rebelled against the Portuguese, but with less success
than either Nyaude or Kisaka, for he had been seized and sent a prisoner
to Mozambique a short time before our visit. All the southern shore
has been ravaged by the Caffres, who are here named Landeens,
and most of the inhabitants who remain acknowledge the authority of Bonga,
and not of the Portuguese. When at breakfast, the people of Shiramba
commenced beating the drum of war. Lieutenant Miranda,
who was well acquainted with the customs of the country,
immediately started to his feet, and got all the soldiers of our party
under arms; he then demanded of the natives why the drum was beaten
while we were there. They gave an evasive reply; and, as they employ
this means of collecting their neighbors when they intend to rob canoes,
our watchfulness may have prevented their proceeding farther.
We spent the night of the 26th on the island called Nkuesi,
opposite a remarkable saddle-shaped mountain, and found that we were
just on the 17th parallel of latitude. The sail down the river was very fine;
the temperature becoming low, it was pleasant to the feelings;
but the shores being flat and far from us, the scenery
was uninteresting.
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