LOUREX/() MAHQIES 61 



some extent provided for by the Incomati itself, 

 which is navigable throughout its course 

 from Moamba to Marracuene. The stores of 

 Magude are floated down upon its stream. The 

 Government road is used for wheeled traffic, and, 

 except in tho wet season, could be traversed by 

 motor. At about half-way along its route the new 

 projected railway from Moamba to Chinavane 

 passes within 1 or 2 kilometres of the river. 



This description of the Incomati will serve as 

 far as its main features go for the Maputo, Um- 

 leluzi, and Tembe. The estuaries to a distance 

 of 15 to 30 miles are fringed with mangroves 

 backed by low brackish plains, subject to more or 

 less serious inundation. 



Farther up rich valleys defined by low forest- 

 clad hills are crossed, becoming less frequent as 

 the rivers are ascended. The Limpopo, the 

 second largest river of Mozambique, must possess 

 enormous possibilities for development above the 

 flooded area. The famous valley, stretching from 

 the hills to the north which divide the district 

 from Inhambane to those to the south dividing it 

 from the alluvial plain of the Incomati, is about 

 120 miles long with an average width of 35 miles. 

 This magnificent fertile plain has excited the 

 admiration of many people, but in the rainy 

 season it is often one vast sheet of water. In 



