They Are An
Industrious People, And Very Fond Of Agriculture.
For hours together
we marched through unbroken fields of mapira, or native corn, of a
great width; but one can give no idea of the extent of land under the
hoe as compared with any European country.
The extent of surface is
so great that the largest fields under culture, when viewed on a wide
landscape, dwindle to mere spots. When taken in connection with the
wants of the people, the cultivation on the whole is most creditable
to their industry. They erect numerous granaries which give their
villages the appearance of being large; and, when the water of the
Zambesi has subsided, they place large quantities of grain, tied up
in bundles of grass, and well plastered over with clay, on low sand
islands for protection from the attacks of marauding mice and men.
Owing to the ravages of the weevil, the native corn can hardly be
preserved until the following crop comes in. However largely they
may cultivate, and however abundant the harvest, it must all be
consumed in a year. This may account for their making so much of it
into beer. The beer these Batoka or Bawe brew is not the sour and
intoxicating boala or pombe found among some other tribes, but sweet,
and highly nutritive, with only a slight degree of acidity,
sufficient to render it a pleasant drink. The people were all plump,
and in good condition; and we never saw a single case of intoxication
among them, though all drank abundance of this liting, or sweet beer.
Both men and boys were eager to work for very small pay.
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