It Is 1200 Yards From Bank To Bank,
And Between 700 And 800 Of Deep Water, Flowing At The Rate Of 3-3/4 Miles
Per Hour.
We landed first on an island; then, to prevent our friends
playing false with us, hauled the canoes up to our bivouac, and slept in them.
Next morning we all reached the opposite bank in safety.
We observed,
as we came along the Zambesi, that it had fallen two feet below the height
at which we first found it, and the water, though still muddy enough
to deposit a film at the bottom of vessels in a few hours,
is not nearly so red as it was, nor is there so much wreck on its surface.
It is therefore not yet the period of the central Zambesi inundation,
as we were aware also from our knowledge of the interior.
The present height of the water has been caused by rains
outside the eastern ridge. The people here seem abundantly supplied
with English cotton goods. The Babisa are the medium of trade,
for we were informed that the Bazunga, who formerly visited these parts,
have been prevented by the war from coming for the last two years.
The Babisa are said to be so fond of a tusk that they will even sell
a newly-married wife for one. As we were now not far from
the latitude of Mozambique, I was somewhat tempted to strike away
from the river to that port, instead of going to the S.E.,
in the direction the river flows; but, the great object of my journey being
to secure water-carriage, I resolved to continue along the Zambesi,
though it did lead me among the enemies of the Portuguese.
The region to the north of the ranges of hills on our left is called Senga,
from being the country of the Basenga, who are said to be
great workers in iron, and to possess abundance of fine iron ore,
which, when broken, shows veins of the pure metal in its substance.
It has been well roasted in the operations of nature.
Beyond Senga lies a range of mountains called Mashinga,
to which the Portuguese in former times went to wash for gold,
and beyond that are great numbers of tribes which pass under
the general term Maravi.
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