Remarks on Delagoa Bay. 135 



natives round the bay, and upon all the rivers except those of 

 Inyack. Mapouta may contain near twenty thousand inhabit- 

 ants. Temley is bounded on the East, by the bay; on the 

 North, by the English and Dundas Rivers; on the West, by 

 the mountains of the Olontontes or Veterahs ; on the South- 

 west, by the little state of Pongelly ; and on the South, by the 

 river and kingdom of Mapoota. The people of this kingdom 

 are timid, tractable, industrious, keen in traffick, and treacher- 

 ous it is said when their interest prompts, or a temptation 

 stands in their way With these people we had much more 

 intercourse than with any of the others, and at length we yielded 

 to their entreaties to be taken under British protection by ceding 

 the sovereignty of their country to His Majesty. Their domain 

 is fertile to a degree and might produce much rice, but it has 

 lately been devastated by the Veterahs. They are precisely the 

 same people as those of Mapoota, Inyack. and other parts about 

 the bay; all speaking the same language, it is believed, as far 

 as Inhamban. Mafooma or Ofoomo, as Deago de Conto has 

 called it, is situated between the mouth of King George and 

 English Rivers, is a very small state, and in it the Portuguese 

 factory is situated. Mattoll is on the northern branch of the 

 river of that name, which empties itself into English River, and 

 has also been lately devastated by the Veterahs. 



To the North-westward of Mattoll lies Moambo, a very con- 

 siderable state, which is watered by King George's River, 

 and Mawtote, Mamalong, Maghoy, and Cherinda, are small 

 states at- its mouth. At Mamalong on the western bank are 

 now settled theVaterahs who have lately overrun and destroyed 

 many of the neighbouring countries. Of them all we can learn 

 is, that they are from the interior districts about and beyond 

 the source of the Mapoota to the South-west of the mountains 

 West of English River. They are. a martial people, of free 

 air arid noble carriage, and are characterized by having the 

 lower pendant flap of the ear perforated by a very large hole, 

 and thereby differing from all the other tribes. 



The present king of the Veterahs, Zeite, was a minor at his 

 father's death, and therefore his uncle, Looncondune, assumed 

 the government until his nephew should come of age, but being 

 then unwilling to resign, a war ensued, and Zeite turned his 

 uncle and all his adherents out of the country to find another 

 for themselves. For two years past these have been more 

 destructive than a swarm of locusts to all the countries be- 

 tween their own and the sea, and, being a more manly and 

 bold race than the natives of these countries, have entered 

 every part as conquerors, and have at length fixed themselves 

 at Mamalong, about thirty miles from the Portuguese factory. 

 The Veterahs, like all the tribes of the interior, manufacture 

 all the implements of agriculture and husbandry used on the 



