156 NATIVES OF AFRICA IN THE i6tH CENTURY. 



If we carefully study the Reports, we see that, in fact, the 

 Natives possessed most of their present cereals. The most 

 v/idespread was a grain called nachcium <r v.aclnr.ni. or 

 ncchinim (a word, the origin or which I am unable to trace; it 

 seems to be an Indian word) ; this grain is a seed similar to 

 mustard, from which they make cakes (I. 136, 184; V. 51, 30° 

 Lat. S. ) ; it is called milho and alpistre by the Portuguese (I. 

 136), and is said to be the best means of subsistence of the land. 

 It is of that cereal that the Inhaca king measured a certain quan- 

 tity to each of his guests. No doubt this is the actual Katir ccrn 

 or millet. Perestrello also mentions a " milho zaburro " ( 1.88). 

 and Lavanha another cereal called ameixoeira {V, 50) ; it is, if 

 ] am not mistaken, the Sorghum''' ; Nuno A'elho found a vegetable 

 called " jugo '" in Natal (this is a kind of pea), and the " gerge- 

 lim " ; the travellers sometimes obtained beans, which were 

 plentiful near Inhambane. Fernandez, in his tiresome ji urney 

 to Gamba, enjoyed them immensely, and noticed that each pod 

 contained sixteen beans. They are extensively cultivated to-day 

 by the Thonga-Shangaan under the name of " timbawen." It 

 seems that the country round Inhambane was more advanced as 

 regards agriculture than any other on the coast, as we find also 

 mentioned there " grains which grow beneath the ground," 

 either the Kafir pea or the monkey nut. 



The millet and sorghum were also prepared under the form 

 of beer, which Lavanha calls " poml')e," ecidently the hyala or 

 tjii'ala of which the Natives are so fond all over South Africa. 

 This is a food as well as a beverage. The culinary customs 

 were the same as to-day. 



Cafi^raria and Natal were full of oxen. Nuno \'ellio counte<l 

 as many as 100 at Luspancc, and 200 at Uljabu (32° S.) He 

 managed to buy some all along his journey. They were plentiful 

 in the Inhaca island. Lavanha says about the Cafifrarian cattle: 



Their meat is fat, tender and savoury; they are hig ; nnist of them 

 are without horns (mocho) and the greater part are oxen.f whicli c«n- 

 stitute the riches of the people ; they sustain themselves on the milk and 

 the hutter made of it." 



The Capridfe also were abundant, mostly sheep in Cafifraria 

 and Zuiuland (120 at Luspance, 200 at Ubabu), some of a large 

 size and of the race of Ormuz ; in Inhaca there were principally 

 goats (I. no; W 82). Fowls are often mentioned at the same 

 place, and amongst the Gamba people who " possess an abundance 

 of cattle, large hens and fat cows, but few goats and sheep." 



* The word " ameixoeira," or " mexoeira," nowadays designates the 

 small grey kaffir corn in Lourenqo Marques. There must have been a 

 confusion of terms in the Reports. Moreover, the chroniclers seem to 

 •consider these names as indigenous, which I believe is a mistake. 



t The travellers noticed with amazement in one of the kraals an ox 

 with four liorns, two ordinary ones and two others under them pohiting 

 Iwckwards ; another ox had three horns proceeding from one which divided 

 itself into three at tlie distance of one pahn from the head (V. 58). 



