If It Is Really Practiced,
The Custom May Have Been Introduced By Some Knowing One Who Wished To Defraud
The Chiefs Of Their Due; For We Are Informed In Portuguese History
That In Former Times These Pieces Or Flakes Of Gold Were Considered
The Perquisites Of The Chiefs.
Major Sicard, the commandant, whose kindness to me and my people
was unbounded, presented a rosary made of the
Gold of the country,
the workmanship of a native of Tete, to my little daughter;
also specimens of the gold-dust of three different places,
which, with the coal of Muatize and Morongoze, are deposited in
the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London.
All the cultivation is carried on with hoes in the native manner,
and considerable quantities of `Holcus sorghum', maize,
`Pennisetum typhoideum', or lotsa of the Balonda, millet, rice, and wheat
are raised, as also several kinds of beans - one of which,
called "litloo" by the Bechuanas, yields under ground, as well as
the `Arachis hypogaea', or ground-nut; with cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons.
The wheat is sown in low-lying places which are annually flooded
by the Zambesi. When the waters retire, the women drop a few grains
in a hole made with a hoe, then push back the soil with the foot.
One weeding alone is required before the grain comes to maturity.
This simple process represents all our subsoil plowing, liming,
manuring, and harrowing, for in four months after planting a good crop
is ready for the sickle, and has been known to yield a hundred-fold.
It flourished still more at Zumbo.
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