DISTUKT or QIKLIMANE 33 



and Hiu du8 Bons Signaos (river of good omens), 

 the Liquare and Qiisviua, the Inhaniaciirra and 

 Macuse, the MabaUa, the Karaga. There is 

 nothing in East Africa that can rival this river 

 system of Quelimane, providing not only great 

 }' 'ssibilities for irrigation but also valuable facili- 

 ties for transport and shipping. The third deter- 

 mining factor of the fertility of the country is 

 its soil. 



Fringing the coast we have, as wo should 

 ixpet t, a strip of land destined in places to come 

 under cocoanut cultivation. This strip is approxi- 

 mat<*ly 400 kilometres in length from boundary 

 to boundary, and over some 150 kilometres 

 of this, that is to say, from the uiouth of the 

 7.T.i).../i f<, the Maballa Uiver, cocoanut - trees 

 y been planted intermittently. It 

 is a matter of some uncertainty how far inland 

 cocoanuts can profitably be cultivated, as the 

 productiveness of the palm begins to decline 

 rapidly as soon as we get away from the influ- 

 ence of the sea, but I think 10 kilometres may 

 s:ifely be assigned as the profitable productive 

 limit. The soil in this zone differs considerably 

 in character, following the contours of the land, 

 the changes being fre<iuent from dry, sandy soil 

 on the ridges to wet, argillaceous swamps in the 

 depressions. The frequency of these swamps, 



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