52 MOZAMBIQUE 



February, 1909, it was covered with water to a 

 depth of 2J feet, the water standing for two 

 months. As is the case with the Incomati and 

 other rivers flowing into Delagoa Bay, the land 

 slopes down from the banks so that when the 

 river overflows its banks the water has no escape, 

 the river being itself the only means of drainage. 

 The soil is a black alluvium that shrinks and 

 cracks, the fissures being sometimes large enough 

 to fall into, evidence in itself of the liability of the 

 land to inundation. But for this flooding this 

 Limpopo plain would constitute ideal sugar land, 

 and it is possible that a close examination of the 

 country might discover high ground on which to 

 build factories and, except in very bad years, a 

 way to lead the water back to the river at lower 

 levels. 



