30 MOZAMBIQUE 



ruled out as a commercial proposition for 

 Mozambique. 



Practically the whole of the dry region and 

 the greater part of the country beyond is forest 

 clad. It is inhabited by the Makua, whose 

 villages cluster round the lakes in the otherwise 

 dry water-courses and wells. The region of the 

 Lurio is populous, and this river, as yet unex- 

 plored by the planter, must possess rich possi- 

 bilities for the future. I shall return to the 

 consideration of this dry region when treating 

 of cotton, but one important feature yet remains 

 to be noted. Good hard forest roads of easy 

 gradients descending with a gradual slope to 

 the sea can be made across it to carry 

 motor traffic from the fertile Trans-Chinga to 

 the coast. Some already exist, and the adminis- 

 tration will soon have motor-cars running over 

 them. 



The country beyond the Chinga Range, which 

 forms part of the divide and which I allude to 

 as the Trans-Chinga, is also of granite formation, 

 but has richer soil and a higher rainfall than 

 the dry belt, and though some of the tributaries 

 that feed the Lurio dry up, it is only for about 

 two months, and not all do so. Some of the 

 natives of this part of the district being still 

 hostile, the country is scarcely yet open for 



