I Saw Also About Here Some Wild Cotton,
Apparently Of Very Good Quality, But None Is Cultivated.
The Land Is So Fertile As To Produce Almost Any (Thing?) Without Much Trouble.
"At this village is a very large house, mud-built, with a court-yard.
I believe it to have
Been used as a barracoon for slaves,
several large cargoes having been exported from this river.
I proceeded up the river as far as its junction with the Quilimane River,
called `Boca do Rio', by my computation between 70 and 80 miles
from the entrance. The influence of the tides is felt about 25 or 30 miles
up the river. Above that, the stream, in the dry season,
runs from 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 miles an hour, but in the rains much stronger.
The banks of the river, for the first 30 miles, are generally thickly clothed
with trees, with occasional open glades. There are many huts and villages
on both sides, and a great deal of cultivation. At one village,
about 17 miles up on the eastern bank, and distinguished by
being surrounded by an immense number of bananas and plantain-trees,
a great quantity of excellent peas are cultivated; also cabbages,
tomatoes, onions, etc. Above this there are not many inhabitants
on the left or west bank, although it is much the finest country,
being higher, and abounding in cocoanut palms, the eastern bank being
sandy and barren. The reason is, that some years back the Landeens,
or Caffres, ravaged all this country, killing the men and taking the women
as slaves, but they have never crossed the river; hence the natives
are afraid to settle on the west bank, and the Portuguese owners
of the different `prasos' have virtually lost them.
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