MAIUTIME FORMATION 43 



of poor quality, and should be avoided so long 

 as there is better hind available. It possesses 

 very Httle plant-food, but has a great capacity 

 for absorbing the heat of the sun's rays with a 

 corresponding inability to retain moisture. Hence 

 in the dry season it gets parched up. On the 

 Maxixe side of the bay, as soon as the coast is 

 left behind, the soil is a light red sandy loam. 

 The shades of red dififer, but it may be taken 

 us representing a fair indication of quality that 

 the darker the colour the better the soil. The 

 colour seems to deepen as the tops of the low 

 hills are reached. Between this red sandy soil 

 and the mashonga at the bottom there is fre- 

 quently a strip of whitish sand, nmch inferior 

 in quality. In the direction of Inharrime a grey 

 sandy loam is found, and it is upon this soil 

 that the Inharrime tobacco is largely grown. 

 There are no rich loams in Inhambane, nor 

 heavy clay soils except the mashonga, w^hich is 

 too w^et for most crops. The land is light, the 

 drainage good, the elevation low. 



