We Mentioned This At The Time To
Captain Gardner, And Our Finding Coal Now Seemed A Verification Of
What We Then Said; The Coal-Field Probably Extends From The Zambesi
To The Rovuma, If Not Beyond It.
Some of the rocks lower down have
the permanent water-line three feet above the present height of the
water.
A few miles west of the Makoa of Matingula, we came again among the
Makonde, but now of good repute. War and slavery have driven them to
seek refuge on the sand-banks. A venerable-looking old man hailed us
as we passed, and asked us if we were going by without speaking. We
landed, and he laid down his gun and came to us; he was accompanied
by his brother, who shook hands with every one in the boat, as he had
seen people do at Kilwa. "Then you have seen white men before?" we
said. "Yes," replied the polite African, "but never people of your
quality." These men were very black, and wore but little clothing.
A young woman, dressed in the highest style of Makonde fashion,
punting as dexterously as a man could, brought a canoe full of girls
to see us. She wore an ornamental head-dress of red beads tied to
her hair on one side of her head, a necklace of fine beads of various
colours, two bright figured brass bracelets on her left arm, and
scarcely a farthing's worth of cloth, though it was at its cheapest.
As we pushed on westwards, we found that the river makes a little
southing, and some reaches were deeper than any near the sea; but
when we had ascended about 140 miles by the river's course from the
sea, soft tufa rocks began to appear; ten miles beyond, the river
became more narrow and rocky, and when, according to our measurement,
we had ascended 156 miles, our further progress was arrested. We
were rather less than two degrees in a straight line from the Coast.
The incidents worth noticing were but few: seven canoes with loads
of salt and rice kept company with us for some days, and the further
we went inland, the more civil the people became.
When we came to a stand, just below the island of Nyamatolo, Long. 38
degrees 36 minutes E., and Lat. 11 degrees 53 minutes, the river was
narrow, and full of rocks. Near the island there is a rocky rapid
with narrow passages fit only for native canoes; the fall is small,
and the banks quite low; but these rocks were an effectual barrier to
all further progress in boats. Previous reports represented the
navigable part of this river as extending to the distance of a
month's sail from its mouth; we found that, at the ordinary heights
of the water, a boat might reach the obstructions which seem peculiar
to all African rivers in six or eight days. The Rovuma is remarkable
for the high lands that flank it for some eighty miles from the
ocean.
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