314 PARKER ON TEE QUILIMANE AND ZAMBESI RIVERS. [Mar. 9, 1857. 



and plantain trees, a great quantit}'- of excellent peas are cultivated, 

 also cabbages, tomatos, onions, &c. Above this tbere are not many 

 inhabitants on the left or v^^est bank, although it is much the finest 

 country, being higher and abounding in cocoa-nut palms ; the eastern 

 bank being sandy and barren. The reason is, that some 3- ears back 

 the Lanelines, 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. The banks of the river continue mostly sandy, with few 

 trees, except some cocoa-nut pahns, until the southern end of the 

 large P. of Nyangue, formed by the river about 20 miles from 

 Maruru. Here the country is more populous and better cultivated, 

 the natives a finer race, and the huts larger and better constructed. 

 Maruru belongs to Senor Aseredo, of Quilimane, well known to all 

 English officers on the east coast for his hospitality. 



The climate here is much cooler than nearer the sea, and Aseredo 

 has successfully cultivated most European as well as tropical vege- 

 tables. The sugar-cane thrives, as also coffee and cotton, and 

 indigo also is a weed. Cattle here are beautiful, and some of them 

 might show with credit in England. The natives are intelligent, 

 and under a good government this fine country might become very 

 valuable. Three miles from Maruru is Mesan, a very pretty village 

 among palm and mango trees. There is here a good house belonging 

 to a Senor Ferrao ; close by is the canal of communication between 

 the Quilimane and Zambesi rivers, which in the rainy season is 

 navigable. I visited it in the month of October, which is about 

 the dryest time of the year ; it was then a dry canal, about 30 or 

 40 yards wide, overgrown with trees and grass, and, at the bottom, 

 at least 16 or 17 feet above the level of the Zambesi, which was 

 running beneath. In the rains, by the marks I saw, the entrance 

 rise of the river must be very nearly 30 feet, and the volume of 

 water discharged by it enormous. 



Above Maruru the country begins to become more hilly, and the 

 high mountains of Borui-u are in sight ; the first view of these is 

 obtained below Nyangu^, and they must be of considerable height, 

 as from them they are distant above 40 miles. They are reported 

 to contain great mineral wealth ; gold and copper being found in 

 the range, as also coal. The natives are a bold^ independent race, 

 who do not acknowledge the Portuguese authority, and even make 

 them pay for leave to pass unmolested. Throughout the whole 

 course of the river, hippopotami were very abundant, and at one 

 village, a chase by the natives was witnessed. They harpoon the 



