The
Pandanus Or Screw-Palm, From Which Sugar Bags Are Made In The
Mauritius, Also Appears, And On Coming Out
Of the canal into the
Zambesi many are so tall as in the distance to remind us of the
steeples
Of our native land, and make us relish the remark of an old
sailor, "that but one thing was wanting to complete the picture, and
that was a 'grog-shop near the church.'" We find also a few guava
and lime-trees growing wild, but the natives claim the crops. The
dark woods resound with the lively and exultant song of the
kinghunter (Halcyon striolata), as he sits perched on high among the
trees. As the steamer moves on through the winding channel, a pretty
little heron or bright kingfisher darts out in alarm from the edge of
the bank, flies on ahead a short distance, and settles quietly down
to be again frightened off in a few seconds as we approach. The
magnificent fishhawk (Halietus vocifer) sits on the top of a
mangrove-tree, digesting his morning meal of fresh fish, and is
clearly unwilling to stir until the imminence of the danger compels
him at last to spread his great wings for flight. The glossy ibis,
acute of ear to a remarkable degree, hears from afar the unwonted
sound of the paddles, and, springing from the mud where his family
has been quietly feasting, is off, screaming out his loud, harsh, and
defiant Ha! ha! ha! long before the danger is near.
Several native huts now peep out from the bananas and cocoa-palms on
the right bank; they stand on piles a few feet above the low damp
ground, and their owners enter them by means of ladders. The soil is
wonderfully rich, and the gardens are really excellent. Rice is
cultivated largely; sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, cabbages,
onions (shalots), peas, a little cotton, and sugar-cane are also
raised. It is said that English potatoes, when planted at Quillimane
on soil resembling this, in the course of two years become in taste
like sweet potatoes (Convolvulus batatas), and are like our potato
frosted. The whole of the fertile region extending from the Kongone
canal to beyond Mazaro, some eighty miles in length, and fifty in
breadth, is admirably adapted for the growth of sugar-cane; and were
it in the hands of our friends at the Cape, would supply all Europe
with sugar. The remarkably few people seen appear to be tolerably
well fed, but there was a dearth of clothing among them; all were
blacks, and nearly all Portuguese "colonos" or serfs. They
manifested no fear of white men, and stood in groups on the bank
gazing in astonishment at the steamers, especially at the "Pearl,"
which accompanied us thus far up the river. One old man who came on
board remarked that never before had he seen any vessel so large as
the "Pearl," it was like a village, "Was it made out of one tree?"
All were eager traders, and soon came off to the ship in light swift
canoes with every kind of fruit and food they possessed; a few
brought honey and beeswax, which are found in quantities in the
mangrove forests. As the ships steamed off, many anxious sellers ran
along the bank, holding up fowls, baskets of rice and meal, and
shouting "Malonda, Malonda," "things for sale," while others followed
in canoes, which they sent through the water with great velocity by
means of short broad-bladed paddles.
Finding the "Pearl's" draught too great for that part of the river
near the island of Simbo, where the branch called the Doto is given
off to the Kongone on the right bank, and another named Chinde
departs to the secret canal already mentioned on the left, the goods
belonging to the expedition were taken out of her, and placed on one
of the grassy islands about forty miles from the bar. The "Pearl"
then left us, and we had to part with our good friends Duncan and
Skead; the former for Ceylon, the latter to return to his duties as
Government Surveyor at the Cape.
Of those who eventually did the work of the expedition the majority
took a sober common-sense view of the enterprise in which we were
engaged. Some remained on Expedition Island from the 18th June until
the 13th August, while the launch and pinnace were carrying the goods
up to Shupanga and Senna. The country was in a state of war, our
luggage was in danger, and several of our party were exposed to
disease from inactivity in the malaria of the delta. Here some had
their first introduction to African life, and African fever. Those
alone were safe who were actively employed with the vessels, and of
course, remembering the perilous position of their fellows, they
strained every nerve to finish the work and take them away.
Large columns of smoke rose daily from different points of the
horizon, showing that the natives were burning off the immense crops
of tall grass, here a nuisance, however valuable elsewhere. A white
cloud was often observed to rest on the head of the column, as if a
current of hot damp air was sent up by the heat of the flames and its
moisture was condensed at the top. Rain did not follow, though
theorists have imagined that in such cases it ought.
Large game, buffaloes, and zebras, were abundant abreast the island,
but no men could be seen. On the mainland, over on the right bank of
the river, we were amused by the eccentric gyrations and evolutions
of flocks of small seed-eating birds, who in their flight wheeled
into compact columns with such military precision as to give us the
impression that they must be guided by a leader, and all directed by
the same signal. Several other kinds of small birds now go in
flocks, and among others the large Senegal swallow.
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