If The Portuguese
Really Wish To Develop The Resources Of The Rich Country Beyond
Their Possessions, They Ought To Invite The Co-Operation Of Other Nations
On Equal Terms With Themselves.
Let the pathway into the interior
be free to all; and, instead of wretched forts, with scarcely an acre
Of land
around them which can be called their own, let real colonies be made.
If, instead of military establishments, we had civil ones,
and saw emigrants going out with their wives, plows, and seeds,
rather than military convicts with bugles and kettle-drums,
we might hope for a return of prosperity to Eastern Africa.
The village of Senna stands on the right bank of the Zambesi.
There are many reedy islands in front of it, and there is much bush
in the country adjacent. The soil is fertile, but the village,
being in a state of ruin, and having several pools of stagnant water,
is very unhealthy. The bottom rock is the akose of Brongniart,
or granitic grit, and several conical hills of trap have burst through it.
One standing about half a mile west of the village is called Baramuana,
which has another behind it; hence the name, which means "carry a child
on the back". It is 300 or 400 feet high, and on the top
lie two dismounted cannon, which were used to frighten away the Landeens,
who, in one attack upon Senna, killed 150 of the inhabitants. The prospect
from Baramuana is very fine; below, on the eastward, lies the Zambesi,
with the village of Senna; and some twenty or thirty miles beyond
stands the lofty mountain Morumbala, probably 3000 or 4000 feet high.
It is of an oblong shape, and from its physiognomy, which can be
distinctly seen when the sun is in the west, is evidently igneous.
On the northern end there is a hot sulphurous fountain,
which my Portuguese friends refused to allow me to visit, because the mountain
is well peopled, and the mountaineers are at present not friendly
with the Portuguese. They have plenty of garden-ground and running water
on its summit. My friends at Senna declined the responsibility
of taking me into danger. To the north of Morumbala we have a fine view
of the mountains of the Maganja; they here come close to the river,
and terminate in Morumbala. Many of them are conical, and the Shire
is reported to flow among them, and to run on the Senna side of Morumbala
before joining the Zambesi. On seeing the confluence afterward,
close to a low range of hills beyond Morumbala, I felt inclined
to doubt the report, as the Shire must then flow parallel with the Zambesi,
from which Morumbala seems distant only twenty or thirty miles.
All around to the southeast the country is flat, and covered with forest,
but near Senna a number of little abrupt conical hills diversify the scenery.
To the west and north the country is also flat forest, which gives it
a sombre appearance; but just in the haze of the horizon southwest by south,
there rises a mountain range equal in height to Morumbala,
and called Nyamonga. In a clear day another range beyond this may be seen,
which is Gorongozo, once a station of the Jesuits. Gorongozo is famed
for its clear cold waters and healthiness, and there are some inscriptions
engraved on large square slabs on the top of the mountain,
which have probably been the work of the fathers. As this lies
in the direction of a district between Manica and Sofala,
which has been conjectured to be the Ophir of King Solomon,
the idea that first sprang up in my mind was, that these monuments
might be more ancient than the Portuguese; but, on questioning some persons
who had seen them, I found that they were in Roman characters,
and did not deserve a journey of six days to see them.
Manica lies three days northwest of Gorongozo, and is the best gold country
known in Eastern Africa. The only evidence the Portuguese have of its being
the ancient Ophir is, that at Sofala, its nearest port, pieces of wrought gold
have been dug up near the fort and in the gardens. They also report
the existence of hewn stones in the neighborhood, but these can not
have been abundant, for all the stones of the fort of Sofala
are said to have been brought from Portugal. Natives whom I met
in the country of Sekeletu, from Manica, or Manoa, as they call it,
state that there are several caves in the country, and walls of hewn stones,
which they believe to have been made by their ancestors;
and there is, according to the Portuguese, a small tribe of Arabs there,
who have become completely like the other natives. Two rivers,
the Motirikwe and Sabia, or Sabe, run through their country into the sea.
The Portuguese were driven out of the country by the Landeens,
but now talk of reoccupying Manica.
The most pleasant sight I witnessed at Senna was the negroes of Senhor Isidore
building boats after the European model, without any one to superintend
their operations. They had been instructed by a European master,
but now go into the forest and cut down the motondo-trees, lay down the keel,
fit in the ribs, and make very neat boats and launches,
valued at from 20 Pounds to 100 Pounds. Senhor Isidore had some of them
instructed also in carpentry at Rio Janeiro, and they constructed for him
the handsomest house in Kilimane, the woodwork being all of country trees,
some of which are capable of a fine polish, and very durable.
A medical opinion having been asked by the commandant respecting a better site
for the village, which, lying on the low bank of the Zambesi,
is very unhealthy, I recommended imitation of the Jesuits,
who had chosen the high, healthy mountain of Gorongozo, and to select
a new site on Morumbala, which is perfectly healthy, well watered,
and where the Shire is deep enough for the purpose of navigation at its base.
As the next resource, I proposed removal to the harbor of Mitilone,
which is at one of the mouths of the Zambesi, a much better port
than Kilimane, and where, if they must have the fever,
they would be in the way of doing more good to themselves and the country
than they can do in their present situation.
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